The Farmer's Daughter
by PrincessTadashi
Summary: Fred goes to work on a farm for the summer to help out a struggling family friend and gain some valuable experience as a writer. But when he meets and majorly falls for the owner of the farm's gorgeous nephew, Tadashi, he has to find out if small town life will bring them closer together or tear them apart. (Fred/Tadashi, Fredashi. M rating to be safe for making out and language.)
1. Chapter 1

Fred wiped his brow, fanning himself with his hat as the hot Texas sun beats down on him. It was his second week of working on the Hamada's farm, and it was a lot harder than movies made it seem. Everything ached, he was pretty sure he had some major blisters forming on his hands over the ones he already had, and it wasn't even noon yet. Still, it had always been a dream of his to live and work on a farm, and when his dad told him that a friend of his was looking for an extra hand, he'd jumped on the chance. Not that his father was letting him do this indefinitely. He was insistent that Fred go on to get his higher education, and Fred honestly couldn't see himself doing this for the rest of his life. Still, his dad had agreed to let him help out on the ranch for the summer before he started at San Fransokyo University as a freshman that fall, and he had eagerly packed his bags, looking forward to a summer of living the romantic, small-town western life he'd read about in so many novels.

Unfortunately for him, it turned out that living and working on a farm wasn't near as wonderful as it sounded on the pages of a book. It required getting up before the crack of dawn, working out in the blistering heat all day, and then dropping into bed when the sun finally went down, only to get up and having to do it all over again the next day. If he'd thought the first week of fence-mending and picking peaches in the orchard, on top of the daily chore of putting the cows out to pasture and bringing them in at night was bad, it was nothing to being out in the field all day pitching hay. At least in the orchard there had been trees for shade, but out here he had no cover whatsoever. It wasn't like Cassidy Hamada, the woman who owned the farm, was trying to mean to him. There was just a lot of work that needed to be done to keep it running and not near enough people to do it all. Right now it was just Aunt Cass (as she insisted he call her), her youngest nephew, Hiro, and Fred. Apparently she'd tried to hire on a helper back when her eldest nephew had gone off to university the previous fall but she couldn't pay enough to keep a regular worker. The poor place had become pretty run down with just the two trying to keep things going, which is why they needed so much help. It was also why, as hard as this was, Fred was determined to stay the entire summer, even if it killed him (which it might, given he'd never worked a day before this in his life.) Aunt Cass had promised that her eldest nephew would be back sometime during the week and he'd be able to help as well, so that was something, at least. She'd told him that the nephew's name was Tadashi and sure, he'd seen some picture of him around the house, but he hadn't paid much attention to them. He'd been told that the guy was some sort of robotics expert-something of a rarity in this small town community, but apparently that was the field their father had studied before the unfortunate accident that took both of the boys' parents' lives and left the two to live alone here on the family farm with their aunt. While Fred was sure the guy was nice enough, he sounded like some kind of genius, and since Hiro was also a genius and came across as kind of shy and withdrawn, the older brother was probably the same way and so the farmhand couldn't see them becoming really good friends or anything.

Or anything. Yeah, that was the other reason Fred hadn't looked to closely at the pictures. He could already tell that the guy was majorly attractive, but there was little to no chance that he didn't already have a string of girls after him both here in his hometown and at the university that he apparently went to, and he was probably already taken. Beyond that, what was the chances that he'd actually be gay? Knowing Fred's luck with his long list of unrequited crushes, zero to none. So it was probably best that he stayed as far away from the guy as he could so that he didn't end up falling head over heels for him and making everything ridiculously complicated and embarrassing for everyone.

Needing a distraction from his current train of thought, Fred glances up at the sky. The sun was almost directly overhead, which meant it was almost time for lunch. Huh, usually Aunt Cass would have sent Hiro out to bring him in by now. This was weird, had something hap-Oh, that's right. At breakfast, hadn't she said something about today being the day that she was going to go pick Tadashi up from the airport and so lunch was going to be a bit late? He'd honestly been a little too dead to the world, just barely managing to get the biscuits and gravy she'd put in front of him into his mouth, so he couldn't remember clearly, but he was pretty sure that's what she'd said. Well, if it was still going to be a while, he at least needed to go get out of the sun for a bit before he developed heat stroke, so he begins heading for the line of trees bordering the edge of the field. Not only did they provide at least light shade from the unrelenting Texas heat, on the first day of work Hiro had showed him the small creek that ran through them and how it worked as a great way to cool off fast. At the beginning of that first week, Fred had been a little unsure of just wading into an unknown body of water (not that he was a germophobe in the least-quite the opposite, actually, but he just wasn't used to the whole rocks and fish and who knew what all else getting under your feet when he'd grown up his entire life with the only water he ever actually came into contact with involved swimming pools or bathtubs.) By now, though, survival had gotten rid of all squeamishness and he eagerly strips off his shirt before gratefully wading in up to his waist. Oh yeah. This was _much_ better. He leans against a large stone that bordered the stream and was conveniently placed so that you could put your arms up on it and just close your eyes and soak away the stress for a good minute or two before getting back to work. And that's exactly what Fred did. He was so enjoying the peace and quiet and relaxation of the moment, in fact, that he didn't hear someone approaching until an unfamiliar voice suddenly broke into his reverie, saying, "Um, hi. You must be Fred?"

Fred was so startled that he slipped right off the rock, just barely managing to keep from faceplanting right into the stream, but managing to splash himself enough that he was completely drenched.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" the unfamiliar voice cries, sounding alarmed.

"Y-yeah, f-fine," Fred splutters, trying to regain his balance on the slippery creek floor before turning to see-Oh, wow.

Standing there on the bank of the creek was probably the most gorgeous man Fred had ever seen. He was approximately six feet tall, maybe a little taller, with broad shoulders and a tapered waist that somehow worked together even though they probably shouldn't have. His soft black hair was swept up off of his face to reveal two adorably large ears and a set of gorgeous brown eyes which were, at the moment, filled with concern.

"Ebeh…" Wow, great, way to set the mood Fred, mumbling unintelligibly. Now the guy probably thought he was either some creepy stalker or else completely stupid. If he was lucky, maybe he'd think that he'd accidentally hit his head on the rock. Better yet, maybe he should just hit his head on the rock because it would be easier than the slow death of shame for acting like a complete incompetent in front of this beautiful stranger.

Fortunately, either the other man didn't notice his incoherent mumbling or was choosing to politely ignore it as he holds his hand out to him. "Here, let me help you," he says, his voice soft with an undercurrent of mild southern drawl, something which only made him all the more adorable.

"T-thanks," Fred breathes, reaching out to take the hand and finding it's grip extremely strong, only confirming his suspicions that under that green flannel shirt was a row of muscles that were probably as gorgeous as the rest of the guy. Once he's on solid ground again, he can't help but stare up into those beautiful eyes, which were staring back at him with a mixture of confusion and something else he couldn't quite identify…

At the same time, both guys suddenly realize that they're still holding hands, and they quickly break the contact, both acting like they'd been burned and, was it Fred's imagination, or was the other man blushing too?

"U-um, I think this is yours," the man says, scooping Fred's shirt up off of the ground and holding it out to him.

"Y-yeah, t-thanks," Fred agrees, gratefully taking it before adding wryly, "It's probably the only part of me that's dry right now…"

The other man lets out a low chuckle at that which sounded like absolute music to the farmhand's ears before smiling apologetically and saying, "Sorry 'bout that… My aunt sent me out here to find you and bring you back for lunch. I didn't meant to startle you."

"No, it's fine!" Fred reassures him quickly as he worms back into his shirt, only to pause mid-way as the truth hits. "Wait, your aunt? Oh, you must be Tadashi!"

"Yep, that would be me," Tadashi agrees with a smile that could only be described as brilliant.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you," Fred says, trying to keep his tone casual and hurrying to keep up as the other man starts heading back towards the house and gestures for him to follow.

"Same to you," Tadashi agrees with a warm smile. They walk in comfortable silence, the farmhand feeling slightly giddy and trying to resist the urge to catch the other man's freely swinging hand in his own and hold it. Then Tadashi finally speaks again.

"Aunt Cass has been telling me a lot about you since you got here," he says, looking somewhat regretful as he adds, "I'm just sorry I couldn't be back sooner to help out around here. But there are just some things you can't control… Still makes me feel like a jerk for not being here for my family when they need me."

"Hey, don't say that!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "Your aunt thinks the world of you-she never stops talking about how proud she is of you and what you're doing! And Hiro doesn't talk much, but when he does it's about his 'nii-chan' and how he wants to be just like you!"

"That's certainly flattering." Tadashi gives him a grateful smile. "Thanks for telling me that. I just can't help but feel guilty sometimes about leaving all of this behind…"

"Well, if it's your dream to do robotics, then it's your responsibility to follow that dream and make the world a better place with it!" Fred declares. "And besides, the fact that you're coming back here during the summer to help and you're so concerned about your family says a lot about you."

Tadashi flashes him another grateful look, although this time Fred couldn't help but wonder if he was imagining it or if the gaze lingered a little longer than was strictly speaking necessary.

"Niisan!" Fred's train of thought was quickly broken by the sound of Hiro's voice, and he's slightly startled to look up and see the younger boy waving to them-well, waving to Tadashi, anyways-from the porch. Wow, had they come this far already? Well, it couldn't be helped, and he follows silently after Tadashi who hurries up to the porch to scoop his younger brother up into a hug before giving him a playful noogie.

Lunch was a cheerful affair, with Aunt Cass doing most of the talking while trying to force more and more food on Tadashi, telling him that the university cafeteria wasn't feeding him right because he was all skin and bones. Hiro just sat, listening with rapt attention to all of his older brother's stories, and Fred did much the same, although he did less listening than appreciatively watching every one of the other man's movements and facial expressions. Oh man, despite his best intentions, he had fallen and fallen hard.

"So, how are you liking working here?" Tadashi asks, and it takes the farmhand a full minute to realize that the question was being directed at him.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm loving it!" Fred answers, forcing a grin onto his face and quickly trying to act like he hadn't been staring at him for the past five minutes.

"Do you plan to have an actual farm of your own someday?" Tadashi questions, his expression full of open curiosity.

"Oh, um, not really," Fred admits. "I'm planning to be a writer, actually. But I thought that spending a summer working on a farm would give me some really great experience if I decide to write a story… y'know, about working on a farm?" He winces slightly at that lame finish. On paper, his words came out so easily, but when it came to regular conversations, Shakespeare he was not.

Tadashi doesn't seem to mind, though, smiling and saying, "That's great! It's awesome that you're willing to actually live your art instead of just reading about it."

"Tadashi's quite the bookworm himself," Aunt Cass say with a warm smile. "Maybe you two might have something in common there!"

'Yeah, maybe," Fred agrees, flashing Tadashi a shy smile which the other man returns with an easy one of his own.

"You two can talk about it at the barbecue tonight-it'll be good for you two to get to know each other," Aunt Cass tells them, her eyes sparkling slightly.

"U-um, barbecue?" Fred asks, his mind drawing a blank. Man, he needed to find some way to be more alert in the mornings so he wouldn't keep missing all of the apparently important information.

"Aunt Cass always has a barbecue for special occasions," Tadashi explains with a wry smile. "She always overdoes it, and I keep telling her that she doesn't have to have one just for me coming home-"

"Of course I do!" Aunt Cass answers, looking slightly affronted. "Your coming home is something to celebrate, and I'll be damned if I don't do everything I can to make it the best one we can manage to scrape together!"

"Yes ma'am," Tadashi agrees respectfully, obviously knowing better than to argue with her.

"Good!" Aunt Cass beams at him before standing up from the table. "Well, I'd better get back to work getting ready for tonight. Hiro, back to your chores. Tadashi, you head on upstairs and rest up, alright? I know you've had a long day and you'll need your strength for tonight."

"Aunt Cass, I'm supposed to be helping out now that I'm back home, I can't just-" Tadashi starts to protest, but the older woman cuts him off with a stern glare.

"No arguments," she says firmly.

"Yes ma'am," Tadashi sighs before heading for the stairs.

"Oh, before I forget, dear, I invited some of the neighbors," Aunt Cass calls after him, adding with a smile, "Mrs. March is going to be coming, and she's bringing her girls-she said Meg was looking forward to seeing you!"

"R-Right." Was Fred imagining things, or had Tadashi flinched at that?

No, he must be imagining things, he decides as he glumly heads back out to the fields. Meg was most likely Tadashi's girlfriend. The two had probably been high school sweethearts and they were going to get engaged and be married and have a whole family of adorable children who would all have Tadashi's gorgeous eyes…

Fred spends the rest of the afternoon dismally imagining Tadashi's relationship with this "Meg" girl. He was so caught up in his thoughts, in fact, that he was surprised when he looked up from his work only to find the sun low in the sky. Wow, was it time to head in already? Turning back towards the house, he could distantly see the shapes of what looked like flatbed trucks parked along the dirt pathway. The barbecue must have already started, or at least was moving in that direction. For a moment, he panics at the thought of being late, but then he remembers that he hadn't been officially invited and, even if the brief mention that he could attend had been meant seriously, did they really want him, an outsider, at this special family affair? Honestly, probably no one had even realized that he wasn't there. Sighing heavily, he starts the long trudge back across the field towards the house.

Once there, he heads in the back door, deciding to just slip up the stairs and hide out in the room Aunt Cass had given him to stay in while he was with them, only to be caught off guard by the sound of older woman's voice crying, "There you are! I was about to send Hiro out after you!"

"Oh, s-sorry," Fred apologizes. "I didn't mean to worry anyone. I just kind of got caught up in my work-you know how it goes."

Aunt Cass gives him a warm smile. "You're a hard worker, Fred. I really appreciate that. A lot of the young men we've brought in here over the years only do the minimum they have to do to get paid and leave the rest of the work undone. But you pay attention to the details and do a really good job with things, and you deserve a break. Why don't you head upstairs and get yourself cleaned up and then come on down and join us?"

"A-am I allowed?" Fred asks in disbelief.

"Of course you are!" Aunt Cass replies, looking like she can't believe that he'd even need to ask. "You're a part of the family now, you're automatically invited to everything we do."

"R-really? T-thank you!" Fred can't help but feel a surge of gratitude at that. His own parents had never been particularly close, mainly treating him like something they pulled out to show off at their fancy formal events and then forgot about until the next time he was expected to show up. The Hamadas treated him more like family than his own ever had, and he now was honestly really glad that he'd taken this summer job because, without it, he never would have known what that felt like.

Per Aunt Cass's instructions, upstairs he quickly jumps in the shower to rinse off a day's worth of sweat and dirt before heading to get into clean clothes. For a moment, he's stumped, not knowing what's expected to be worn at parties out here. If it had been something his parents were hosting, a suit and tie would have been considered mandatory, but something told him that was definitely not the case here (not that he'd even packed a suit if that had been the case.) A quick glance out the window gave him the information he needed, and he quickly settles on the nicest pair of jeans that he has and the one flannel shirt he actually owned (usually he just wore a plain white t-shirt out in the fields, it was too hot for anything more than that!) Most of the guys seemed to be wearing boots, but as his own were still caked with mud and everything else from work for the day, he hopes that he won't stand out too much in a pair of tennis shoes. After running a comb through his hair (and wishing he could get away with wearing his standard beanie like he did at home but knowing that it would stand out too much here), he takes a deep breath for courage and heads down the stairs to join the barbecue.

He follows the sound of music out to the front of the house where he finds the party in full swing. People were everywhere, laughing, talking, and smiling like they all knew each other-which, Fred realized, they probably did. Tables were heaped with more food than the farmhand would have imagined possible for such a small gathering, and the delicious smell of cooking meat wafted off of the grills where Aunt Cass and a couple of others were hard at work. A small band, consisting of a fiddle player, a guitarist, and someone on a harmonica were providing the music Fred had heard earlier, and a few couples were already dancing while the rest of the guests mingled around them. It was hard not to feel at ease with how laid back and welcoming the whole scene appeared, and even though Fred didn't really know anyone here outside of the Hamadas, he found himself inextricably drawn into the middle of things, wanting very much to be a part of it.

The Hamadas' neighbors proved to be extremely friendly-after one older man kindly asked him his name and how he knew the family, he found himself suddenly being introduced to everyone in attendance, all equally as kind and apparently glad to have him there. It was completely unlike what he was used to in San Fransokyo, but he absolutely loved it.

Eventually he found himself standing near the food tables and was debating making up a plate like a grandmotherly lady with withered apple cheeks and crooked teeth but possibly the sweetest smile Fred had ever seen suggested when suddenly he feels a hand grabbing his arm and he's being pulled away by-

"Tadashi!" Fred blinks in surprise when he sees the other man standing there, a smile on his face that looked almost desperate.

"Fred, I'd like you to meet the March sisters," Tadashi says as he gestures to a small group of girls, acting as if he were introducing an old friend instead of someone he had only just met that day. Unsure of what else to do, the farmhand decides to just go with it.

There were four March sisters, as it turned out-Meg, the eldest, followed by Jo (Josephine, although she threatened to skin anyone who actually called her that), Beth, and Amy. Fred immediately took a liking to Jo-she was apparently a childhood friend of Tadashi's and her tomboyish spunk made her easy to talk to, although she almost took the farmhand's arm off when she shook his hand. Beth was a quiet, if somewhat frail looking girl, but she offered Fred a shy smile and he decided that he liked her as well. Amy seemed a little too full of herself for her own good, but Fred could find some humor in that so he decided to just let it go. Meg, on the other hand, he instantly took a great disliking too. And it wasn't just the fact that she was a southern belle who could easily sweep any guy off of his feet and that he'd spent the entire afternoon imagining horrible things about her. It was the way that she seemed to be standing a little too close to Tadashi, touching his arm or other parts of him when she thought no one was looking, and the poor man looked like he would rather be anywhere else but was too polite to say anything.

Well. Fred couldn't help but glow at the thought. As bad as he felt for Tadashi, apparently the other man _wasn't_ interested in this girl! And hell if Fred wasn't going to take advantage of the situation to be the one who saved him from this.

"I'm sorry," he says, cutting smoothly between Meg and Tadashi and not sounding a bit sorry, "but if you don't mind, I'd like to ask this gentleman to dance with me."

"D-dance with you?" Meg's eyes go wide with confusion. "Why would you do that?"

 _Because he's gorgeous and I want to sweep him off of his damn beautiful feet, that's why,_ Fred wants to answer, although he manages to hold that in.

"If a feller wants to dance with a feller, I don't see why not," Jo pipes in helpfully, smiling at the idea. "Heck, girls dance with girls all the time at these things, in rings and such, why shouldn't men be allowed to do it too?"

"I-it just isn't done!" Meg answers stiffly.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be such an old biddy!" Jo laughs before taking her sister's hand and pulling her, protesting loudly, out onto the dance floor.

"T-thank you..." Fred feels himself flushing slightly as he looks over at Tadashi, who was giving him an extremely grateful smile. "S-sorry about that… Meg's a nice enough girl, but she doesn't know how to take 'no' for an answer…"

"Not a problem," Fred answers, waving it off like it really wasn't a big deal but internally glowing. "So, um…" he asks after a couple of moments of semi-awkward silence. "Would you actually like to dance? I mean, not that we have to, of course! We could just go get some food or hang out and talk about books, or-"

"Actually, I have a better idea," Tadashi answers, smiling slightly as gestures for him to follow him. "C'mon, there's something I want to show you, but it's around back."

"O-okay, lead the way," Fred replies, glad to have his uncomfortable rambling cut short. He was also curious as to what exactly the other man wants to show him, so he just follows along in wondering silence as Tadashi leads him out towards the little old run-down barn where the cows and the family's horses were kept.

"So, um, what exactly did you want to show me?" Fred asks once they're inside, looking around with interest at his surroundings. He was in here every morning and everyone night when he led the cows in or out, but he'd never really taken a chance to look around in detail. He was so momentarily lost in taking in everything that he didn't notice Tadashi shifting uncertainly from one foot to the other until suddenly he felt the other man's hands gripping his shirt, pulling him flesh against him.

"O-oh… Um, hi?" Fred squeaks, staring up into those beautiful brown eyes that were filled with confusion, a little bit of fear, but also an intense determination that was making the farmhand go weak at the knees.

"Please-don't speak," Tadashi whispers, his right hand trailing over Fred's cheek before suddenly leaning in and pressing his lips against the other man's. It was only for a second and then he instantly pulls away, his entire face flushed and looking a cross between completely horrified at what he'd just done and rebelliously proud of it.

Fred was left standing there, gaping in shock at him, his entire body rigid and his brain seeming to have completely frozen up, until Tadashi finally says softly, "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that without your permission… I was just so sure from the way you were looking at me earlier that you…"

"Sorry?" Fred cries, his brain finally starting to work again and a grin spreading across his face. "What the hell are you sorry for? That was awesome!"

"Y-yeah?" Tadashi's eyes flash hopefully.

"Yeah!" Fred agrees eagerly.

"D-do you you want to do it again?" Tadashi asks shyly.

"Um, hell yes!" Fred answers.

"Good." Tadashi grins. "Because I do too."

About half an hour later, the two are lying side by side on a pile of fresh hay, well hidden from any prying eyes that might be trying to see through the door and both acting as giddy as two cats who had gotten into a whole patch of catnip.

"Wow," Fred says, grinning over at Tadashi. "You're a really good kisser, you know that?"

"I think it was mostly you," Tadashi answers, blushing but looking pleased at the praise. "I didn't know what the hell I was doing!"

"You were fine," Fred replies, waving aside the comment but knowing that it had been him who had helped the other man figure out how to tilt his head so that their noses didn't crash into each other and even gotten things a little hot with some minor tongue action.

"H-have you done that before?" Tadashi asks quietly.

"What, kissing?" Fred answers.

"W-well, not just kissing… Kissing other guys," Tadashi replies, looking both scandalized and excited by the idea.

"Dude, I have only ever kissed guys!" Fred laughs.

"Really?" Tadashi asks, his eyes lighting with curiosity.

"Totally," Fred agrees. "I knew I was gay from really early on, so I didn't even bother messing around with girls or trying to convince myself I was straight. I knew what I liked, and I went for it."

Tadashi seems to flinch slightly at the use of the word, but he asks quietly, "So, um… If I liked kissing you… Does that make me… gay?"

"Well, not necessarily," Fred answers. "I mean, you could be bi or pansexual. Do you like girls?"

"Ye-No," Tadashi admits, sighing like he'd just admitted a huge secret. "I… I tried, but I just… I've never really felt really attracted to them. I thought there was something wrong with me, and so when Meg started coming after me I figured that maybe I could learn to like her… Y'know, that way? But no matter how hard I tried, it didn't work. If anything, it just made me like her even less. And then when I went off to college… It was like an entirely new world. I didn't even know what 'gay' meant, I'd only heard it called 'sodomy' around here, if anyone even dared to bring it up. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't that way, that I really wasn't romantically inclined towards guys. But I just found myself thinking more and more about it and even though it's against everything I was ever taught I started thinking that maybe I was. I've been really confused about it for a really long time and I knew I could never talk to my family about it, but…" He looks over at Fred the way a survivor of the Titanic would look at a life preserver. "Today, when I met you… Something about you just made me feel all excited inside-like the way I've heard you're supposed to feel when you like someone. And I kept trying to tell myself that it wasn't right, that I shouldn't feel that way, but… I did. And when I saw you coming out of the house looking all handsome tonight, I just… I knew I needed to try kissing you. Even if it got me sent to hell, it would be better than never having done it."

Fred lets out a low whistle before saying, "Damn… You've been living with some really fucked up shit you're entire life, haven't you?"

"W-what?" Tadashi looks slightly caught off guard by the other man's words.

"Let me guess-you were raised up religious, right?" Fred asks with a slight smile.

"Yes," Tadashi answers a little bit defensively.

"Hey, not saying there's anything wrong with that-I was and am too," Fred answers, which seemed to soothe the other man's nerves. "I'm just saying that there are a lot of ideas running around in the church that are completely messed up. I mean, for centuries the institution that was supposed to be showing love and hope to people has instead been hurting people who need to most support instead of helping them. I'm not going to give you a sermon tonight or anything-I'm not that great with that sort of thing-but I've got some stuff I read, not so much when I was figuring out my sexuality, 'cause I never had any problems with it, but when I was trying to help some of my other friends out who were dealing with their own stuff. Let's just say, bottom line, you're not going to hell for this, okay?"

"I-Okay," Tadashi says softly, nodding. "I'd like to read whatever you have 'cause it might help me… Especially when I have to explain this to my family…"

"And you don't have to tell them immediately," Fred tells him gently. When the other man looks startled by this suggestion, he says, "I'm not saying you don't tell them ever or lie to them! But let's just say I've helped a lot of my friends through this same thing, and, until you're on firmer ground, you probably shouldn't say anything until you've figured this all out for yourself."

"O-okay," Tadashi agrees quietly. "I guess I can see what you mean by that. I just… I don't want to lose my family over this…"

"If they really love you, they'll accept you for whoever you are. And if they don't, well, they don't deserve to have someone as amazing as you in their lives," Fred declares firmly.

"You won't say anything until I'm ready?" Tadashi asks.

"Not a word," Fred agrees. "And I won't try to do anything that might make it obvious that we're together until you say so."

"So… are we together?" Tadashi replies uncertainly.

"Whoa, dang, sorry, did I overstep my bounds?" Fred answers, blushing slightly. "Sorry, guess I just thought… But I guess I was making too many assumptions there…"

"No." Tadashi reaches over and squeezes his hand lightly. "I-I'd like that, actually, if you want to be…"

"Hell yes!" Fred laughs, grinning as he rolls over to face him.

"So, what does that make us?" Taashi asks. "I mean, what do I call you?"

"Well, I know some people prefer the term 'partner', but I'm pretty fine with just being your boyfriend, if that's okay with you," Fred answers with a warm smile.

"Boyfriend…" Tadashi says the word, as if trying to get the feel for it, his nose scrunched up in concentration in a way that Fred found completely adorable.

"I mean, it's cool if you don't want to call me that!" Fred says quickly. "It's just a thought!"

"Well, I never pictured myself calling someone that, but I like it," Tadashi answers, grinning slightly. "So, does this make me your boyfriend?"

"If you want to be," Fred answers, squirming with pleasure at the thought.

"Yeah, definitely." Tadashi grins, nuzzling into him slightly.

"Oh, well, good!" Fred can't help from beaming like a complete and total idiot but not really caring.

"Is it weird to say that you smell good?" Tadashi asks from where he had his face pressed up against the farmhand's neck.

"I'd say that counts as an awesome compliment, but definitely not weird," Fred laughs before asking, "You want me to start returning the favor, telling you all of the things I find attractive about you? Because there are a lot."

"I…" Tadashi blushes bright pink, and his adorable blush quickly gets added to the ever growing list of his best traits. "Maybe… Just not right now. Call me old fashioned, but even if I am going against pretty much everything I was ever taught, if we're going to be courting, or dating, or whatever you want to call it, I would like to get to know you first before we start doing all the things… y'know, that couples do?"

"Oh, yeah, totally! I'm completely down with that!" Fred agrees. "I'm an open book, so ask me anything!"

The next hour or so is spent discussing favorite hobbies, books, and tv shows-it turned out that, given he lived in a rather rural area, Tadashi had mainly had access to the classics stories that were close to Fred's literature loving heart, and, even better, some of his classmates at the university had started introducing him to some of the nerd fandoms that the farmhand was deeply devoted to, and Fred was more than eager to help introduce him to even more. Talking about Tadashi's friends at the university led to Fred asking where he went to school, and he was stunned to find out that he was studying at SFIT, right in Fred's home town. Of course it made more sense once Tadashi told him that his dad had gone to SFIT back in the day, which explained how Fred's dad probably knew the Hamadas in the first place. Fred couldn't help but be excited by this-being so close meant that maybe, just maybe this wouldn't end up being a summer fling that had to end when they had to part ways. With Fred being so close by, they could still date-if anything, they'd probably have more freedom because, as Fred pointed out, people were a lot more accepting and open-minded in the city than they were here.

"Whoa, how late is it?" the farmhand suddenly thinks to ask, glancing out the window near the top of the barn and realizing that the sky had gotten pretty dark while they were in here.

"Not too late," Tadashi reassures him.

"Still, we'd better get back before anyone starts looking for us-I mean, you are the guest of honor, after all, and people might start talking if they saw us in here alone," Fred points out, sitting up and starting to brush the hay off of himself.

"No they won't," Tadashi answers, also sitting up but seeming less worried than the other man. "Around here, no one would ever get suspicious because they'd never expect to guys to be doing anything beyond just hanging out and shooting the breeze, In other words, as long as we don't start kissing or holding hands or something so blatant that it can't be ignored, people will only choose to see what they want to see."

"Why Tadashi Hamada, how downright devious of you!" Fred cries, pretending to be shocked.

"Just following your example," Tadashi answers innocently.

"So you're saying I'm a bad influence?" Fred asks, grinning at the thought.

"Oh, the worst," Tadashi agrees before reaching over to pull him into another kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: Major homophobia trigger warning.

Also, just going to take care of the elephant in the room right now before people read this chapter and start getting all offended. I have nothing against the church or against people working for the church. I'm a Christian, and I have a wonderful woman as my pastor who is doing great work to help the LGBTQA community. But there are some really messed up people out there. I was kicked out of my home by my extremely conservative parents for coming out as a lesbian. I've seen both sides of the fence, so that's the position I'm writing this from. If this offends you/makes you uncomfortable, I respect that, but I also ask that you respect my views as well. That said, I'll stop talking now and let you guys do what you really want to do-enjoy this chapter. Thank you.

0o0

The rest of the summer passed quicker than Fred could have ever imagined. The days passed by much as they had before Tadashi came home. He still had his chores to do, but even though they remained challenging, somehow knowing that every night he'd get to head back to the house and see his gorgeous boyfriend made it all worth it. Heck, he was actually starting to feel grateful for all the demanding physical labor because it meant, for the first in his life, he was actually gaining some muscle, and now that he actually had someone to impress, he needed every advantage he could get. Not that he'd ever catch up with Tadashi. It wasn't that the other man looked like he benched pressed at the gym every day or anything, but he was extremely toned and the first time Fred had seen him shirtless when he'd stripped down while they'd been working on mending a field together, the poor farmhand had almost come right there and then.

Most evenings were spent with the rest of the family, sitting out on the back porch if it was nice out or in the living room when it wasn't, a neighbor or two occasionally dropping by for a long chat and a glass of iced tea. It was just the way things worked out here, and while it wasn't what Fred was used to, he loved it. What he loved even more, though, were the nights when he and Tadashi got to sneak off by themselves, just the two of them. Usually it involved going out to the barn and just sitting and talking about anything and everything-Fred honestly felt like he was gaining a best friend on top of an amazing boyfriend that he was totally falling in love with. But some nights, talking just wasn't enough and, when things heated up, they ended up here-the back of Tadashi's truck parked out behind the barn, a tangle of limbs and tongues and teeth.

They hadn't actually done "it" yet. Tadashi was too old fashioned to think that was appropriate before marriage, even if he was breaking pretty much every other rule just by being with another man, and Fred respected that. That didn't mean that they didn't have some amazing make-out sessions, however. Tadashi had honestly been really shy about any physical contact whatsoever to begin with, and the farmhand had let him set the pace, keeping things to light kisses and hand holding to begin with. But somehow things had progressed as the summer continued to heat up and one way or another a border had been crossed and now they were fogging up the windows every chance that they had. Fred had never thought that making out in the backseat of a vehicle sounded terribly romantic, but the truth was that it didn't really matter where you were once you started because all that mattered was the person you were with.

A loud beeping noise breaks through Fred's happy haze and he feels Tadashi stiffening slightly above him and letting out a low groan, leaving off from where he'd been trailing kisses down Fred's chest to grab his phone.

"Why does it always have to go off so early?" he complains as he shuts off the alarm.

"It doesn't go off early, love, time just flies when you're having fun," Fred answers rakishly even though he was also disappointed that their time was up. Before any of their illicit meetings, they always set an alarm so that they didn't lose track of time. As long as they didn't stay out for too late or too long, no one raised an eyebrow when they came back looking slightly ruffled, claiming that they'd been out for a trail ride or gotten into a wrestling match out in the barn (well, in a sense it was a wrestling match, just not the type anyone was expecting.)

"Sucks that we have to keep this such a secret," Tadashi sighs as he moves off of Fred so that the other man can sit up, beginning to button up his own shirt.

"Just think-one more month and we'll be back in SF and we won't have to hide anything," Fred promises him as he tries to straighten himself out as much as he could. This had become their mantra-when the end of the summer came, they'd be back in extremely liberal California where no one would so much as raise an eyebrow if they held hands while walking down the street or even kissed in public. Heck, they could probably make out in the park and most people wouldn't care as long as they were decent and not doing it near kids. At the beginning of summer, Fred had thought that maybe Tadashi was overreacting a little bit and that it really wouldn't be that big of a deal if their secret got out. But that was before the Sunday two poor teens who had been caught by the girl's grandmother having sex were brought before the church and publicly remonstrated for it by the pastor. The poor girl had been in tears the entire time, and while the farmhand thought that maybe it was a bit early for them to be having sex, he certainly didn't think it warranted a response like this. Hell, the two were probably going to be royally screwed up and afraid to ever have sex again, even when they were married someday-if they even felt they could get married after something like that. Fred really, really hated the pastor in this town. It was a horrible thing to say, maybe, but he did and with a fiery passion. There was a mayor, sure, but all of the power came down to this twisted bastard who seemed to have everyone and everything wrapped around his little finger. Someone couldn't so much as sneeze without him hearing about it. He projected this image of just being concerned for everyone's well being and only looking out for his "flock'", but as far as the farmhand was concerned, the guy was on a major power trip and he was killing the life of everyone he came into contact with, spreading his hatred disguised by pretty words and scripture verses like a deadly poison. After the first couple of Sundays, Fred probably would have stopped going if it were up to him, but he wasn't about to let Tadashi go that alone and so he sat through the hour of garbage, blocking out the worst of it and trying to harness any powers of telepathy that God might grant him for the express purpose of helping keep his boyfriend from having a panic attack.

Honestly, as much as Fred loved being here and he loved Tadashi's family, that was probably the major reason he couldn't wait to get back to SF-so he could get his gorgeous, amazing boyfriend who didn't deserve to deal with this kind of shit to a place where he could feel free and safe to just be himself.

"The coast is clear," Tadashi says softly, breaking into Fred's thoughts. It was their custom to make sure that no one was around before either of them got out of the truck to ensure that they didn't get caught. It wasn't like there was any reason for someone to be around the back of the barn this time of night, but it still never hurt to be careful.

"All right." Fred nods, checking his reflection in the rearview mirror one last time before climbing out after the other man. They had considered before leaving separately to avoid anyone seeing them leave together, but then they realized that they were supposed to have been together and so arriving back at the house at different times would be suspicious and eventually they'd decided that they could risk it, saying that Fred had been helping Tadashi find something that he'd lost in the back seat if they ever did get caught. Not that anyone would believe that with the fogged up glass, but it was the best they could do.

As they walk back together, Fred has to fight the impulse to reach over and take Tadashi's hand in his. Oh man, the time for heading back to California could not come soon enough…

Lost in his pleasant imaginings of what life would be like for them in SF, Fred didn't even notice his boyfriend suddenly stiffening until he felt him grabbing his arm.

"What is it?" Fred asks, turning to him.

"Sh!" Tadashi shushes him, his eyes darting around like a rabbit who had just caught scent of a wolf.

"Everything okay?" Fred whispers, feeling his heart rate involuntarily speeding up.

Tadashi remains silent for another moment before answering, "I thought I heard something... " Then he shakes his head. "But it was probably just a deer or some other animal. Sorry, guess I'm just a little jumpy tonight for some reason…"

"Hey, it's okay." Fred leans over to quickly peck him on the cheek. "Now, c'mon, let's just get back to the house, okay?"

"Okay." Tadash flashes him a quick smile before they start back on their way. Neither of them noticed a dark figure sneaking out from behind a tree as soon as they're out of hearing range and darting off into the night.

Fred wasn't a superstitious person. He wasn't. But he did feel that he had something of a sixth sense that warned him when something was about to go wrong, and for some reason it had been going off all morning. It didn't make sense-it was a beautiful day outside, and it should have been an even better day because he and Tadashi were working together on yet another portion of the old fence that was forever in need of fixing. Still, despite the sight of his boyfriend's gorgeous abs (he was pretty sure that Tadashi had started going topless when they were working sometimes just for his benefit), he couldn't shake this deep sense of foreboding, even as the other man whistled blithely away.

"I think it's time to head in for lunch," Tadashi finally observes, startling the farmhand out of his thoughts of doom and gloom. "You ready? Aunt Cass promised fresh blueberry muffins!"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Fred agrees, forcing a smile onto his face.

Tadashi looked vaguely concerned by his lack of enthusiasm, but he doesn't press the farmhand for more details as they head back towards the house.

The sight of the white antique Cadillac parked in the driveway should have been a tip-off as they near the house. Fred knew only one person in this town who actually drove a car like that, and apparently so did Tadashi.

"I wonder what the pastor's doing here?" he mutters as they draw ever closer. "Maybe someone's sick? Oh gosh, I hope nobody died!"

Fred doesn't say anything, but there's a twisting in his gut and he has the distinct urge to grab Tadashi by the arm, drag him back to his old truck, and drive him straight back to California without ever looking back. Unfortunately, stupid him, he doesn't and just keeps walking even though every part of his brain was screaming at him to do something , anything to prevent the train wreck he knew was about to happen.

"Tadashi? Sweetie, is that you?" Aunt Cass' voice calls from the living room as they enter, sounding falsely cheerful but with a definitely strained undertone.

"Yeah, it's me," Tadashi agrees, heading towards the sound of his aunt's voice before Fred can think to stop him. "Is everything okay?"

"Come in, Tadashi." A different voice this time-a voice that made Fred's skin crawl with absolute revulsion but which the farmhand forces himself to follow in the pursuit of his boyfriend.

In the living room, Tadashi's pastor was standing next to the fireplace, his hands behind his back and a false smile that looked positively sickening to Fred on his face. Aunt Cass was sitting on the couch, looking like she'd just been told that someone had run over the family cat, Mochi, and Hiro was sitting on a rocking chair in the far corner, huddled and silent, his large brown eyes even wider than usual as he looks up at his older brother.

Tadashi, the innocent prat that he was, didn't see what this was, even though Fred clearly could-a setup.

"Is something wrong?" he asks as he walks in, his voice full of concern as he walks over to his aunt.

"Please, sit." The pastor gestures to the couch, and Tadashi does as instructed, taking a seat next to Aunt Cass and putting a protective hand on her knee as if to comfort her for whatever ill he believed had happened.

"I had a… very concerning visit last night, Tadashi," the pastor says, his voice full of fake concern and there was nothing Fred wanted to do but go in there and punch him, but he was frozen to the spot, as if his feet had taken root in the hallway, and he couldn't move or even speak to try to protect his beautiful flower who was about to be so cruelly crushed. "Miss Meg March came to my house, and she was so upset that it took me a good half an hour to calm her down."

I'll just bet it did , Fred thinks sourly, his thoughts on how he had seen this supposed man of the cloth leering at the girl when he thought no one was looking and thinking that the two weasels probably deserved each other.

"Was she okay?" Tadashi asks, completely oblivious. "Oh my gosh, is something wrong with Beth? Is she sick again?"

"No, Beth is fine, as far as I know," the pastor responds. "But she came to me because she said she was very concerned about you."

"Me?" Tadashi's face turns to confusion and which slowly morphs into quiet horror as the truth begins to set in. "W-why would she be worried about me?" he asks, obviously trying to keep his tone level but not managing it in the least.

"Because," the pastor replies in a falsely concerned voice, "last night she was out for a walk in the woods and she claims that she saw you in the back of your truck… having relations with another man."

"Oh God…" Tadashi breathes, looking absolutely sick to his stomach.

"So you're not denying it?"

"N-no…" Despite the fact that he was taller than the man, in this moment Tadashi somehow looked like a small child who was about to be whipped.

"You are familiar with what the Scriptures say about this, aren't you?" the pastor continues in an irritatingly patient voice. "Having a sexual relationship with someone of the same gender… That is a sin that is only redeemable by the flames of hell."

"B-but there are more recent s-studies on the Bible that are showing that it really-" Tadashi protests weakly.

"LIES. All lies of Satan," the pastor spits, an angry scowl crossing his face. "I thought that you were better than this sort of thing! You have been raised up in the church, and I have done everything to protect all of the children under my charge from being led astray-!" He cuts himself off short, taking a deep breath before carefully schooling his features back into a mask of calm. "But, we cannot all be immune to the temptings of the devil. Demons have apparently been sent to try to lure you off of the right path-the ONLY path-but we will not let them win. It isn't too late. You can still repent and save your soul if you will renounce-"

"Bull crap!" Fred finally managed to snap out of his horror-induced daze, storming into the room and wrapping a protective arm around Tadashi's shoulders. "How can you stand there with a straight face and say… Say this absolute shit to this man who is a thousand times holier than you are?! Don't you see how much you're hurting him, you-you bastard?"

"You." The pastor's eyes darken. "You're the agent of Satan who has been leading this poor boy astray!"

"Bull. Shit." Fred answers angrily, pulling Tadashi closer. "I'm no 'agent of Satan', you're the closest thing to that in this room, with all your fake 'concern for people's souls' when all you're really doing is spreading fear and hate because you can't accept that two people might be in love in a way that you can't understand!"

The pastor looks momentarily outraged even as Tadashi gives Fred a look like he was a guardian angel which made the farmhand feel about ten feet taller. Finally the pastor turns to Aunt Cass and says, "Ms. Hamada, I can see that your nephew is going to need serious help. I demand that you remove this satanic influence from his life and then allow me to take him somewhere where they can help him-"

"No."

"E-excuse me?" The pastor blinks, looking completely flabbergasted by Aunt Cass' response.

"I said, 'No'," Aunt Cass replies, her voice trembling slightly but firm before turning to her eldest nephew. "Tadashi, sweetheart-i-is this true? Are you and Fred-?"

"Y-yeah," Tadashi answers quietly even as Fred squeezes his hand for support. "We-We've been dating all summer. A-and I'm so, so sorry from keeping it from you, but I didn't want to hurt you or get you in trouble, I just… I'm gay, Aunt Cass. It's just who I am-it's the way God made me and no one and nothing is ever going to change that. And I know it's probably hard for you to understand right now, but I love Fred, and I want to be with him. Please-please, can you try to understand?"

For a moment Aunt Cass looked like she was going to cry, but then she suddenly pulls Tadashi into a hug, whispering fiercely, "Oh, sweetie… You're just like your father."

"I-I what?" Tadashi looks absolutely shocked by her words.

"Your father was the same way," Aunt Cass answers, pulling back slightly so she could look him in the face. "He never said anything, but I just knew. Unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough back then to support him, and he couldn't take the pressure from our parents-from everyone in the town-to be the person that they wanted him to be, even if it made him utterly miserable, and so, instead of following his dreams, he came back here to marry the girl everyone expected him to and to run the family farm. I'm not saying that he didn't love your mother-I think he loved her as best as he was able to, and I am so grateful that I got two beautiful nephews because of that. But I had to spend every day watching him suffer, absolutely miserable, until the day he couldn't take it anymore and he jumped off of Hanson's bridge…"

"I-I thought mom and dad died in an accident," Tadashi whispers, his eyes going wide with horror.

"That's what everyone told me to say," Aunt Cass answers quietly, her voice trembling. "And I didn't know how to tell you that your father committed suicide and your mother drank herself to death afterwards out of grief. But I swore-I swore on your father's grave that if either of you boys ended up loving a man that I would do everything I could to protect and support you, and as of today I am making good on that promise."

Tadashi looked like he was still trying to process all of this information, but he finally manages to get out weakly, "S-so… Y-you don't hate me?"

"Oh, honey, of course not," Aunt Cass answers, hugging him tightly back.

"Y-you can't do this!" The pastor finally seems to have gotten his voice back and his face was full of fury. "I will not tolerate this… this outright flaunting of a life of sin in my-"

"Shut the hell up and get over yourself already," Fred groans. "Newsflash: Love wins over hate, so get your sorry ass out of here before I do it for you."

"You can't-" the pastor starts to growl at him.

"He can't, but I can," Aunt Cass replies coolly, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm no longer giving you permission to be on my land, so if you're not out of here in five minutes, I will call the authorities on you for trespassing."

The pastor looks suddenly unsure of himself with two guardian angel-esque persons glaring him down, but when Aunt Cass starts reaching for her shotgun, he finally head for the door.

"This is not over!" he growls as he leaves before slamming the door behind him.

"Dude, you aunt is a total badass!" Fred cries as soon as he's gone, grinning over at Tadashi.

"I-I can't believe that just happened," the other man whispers, looking like he was still shaking slightly but a quivering smile forming on his lips.

"Well believe it, because it totally did and it was awesome!" Fred answers, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him into a passionate kiss, which after a moment of surprise Tadashi returns with a quiet moan of happiness.

"I have to say, I kind of suspected something one going on with you two the way you kept sneaking off together," Aunt Cass says with a slight smile as she watches them before adding, "Plus, Fred, sweetie? I you don't want to make it obvious that you're dating someone, don't grope them under the table, at least not unless your partner is a really good actor."

Both boys blush bright red, but given everything Aunt Cass had just done for them, they can't complain about it.

"Wait, I'm still kind of confused…" Everyone turns to look at Hiro, who had been silently watching the entire exchange and had pretty much been forgotten in all of the craziness and drama.

"Oh my gosh, otouto…" Tadashi instantly looks slightly guilty at having neglected him. "I'm so sorry you had to watch all of that… A-are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hiro answers before adding, "Well, kind of. I mean, I just found out just how much of a creep the pastor is, but I kind of already knew that. But I'm more upset that my older brother apparently didn't trust me enough to tell me that he was into guys and actually dating one!"

Tadashi ducks his head in shame. "I'm so sorry, I should have told you... I should have known you wouldn't have…"

"Well, given what that jerk just did, I can see where you'd be worried," Hiro sighs, standing up and coming over to sit next to him. "I just thought you'd know I was better than that."

"I should have, and I'm insanely sorry for not having trusted you more-can you ever forgive me?" Tadashi asks softly.

Hiro seems to be considering this before dramatically sighing, " FINE. Just know that if you ever keep a secret like that from me again, I will seriously break your arm."

"Noted." Tadashi agrees. It was ridiculous to think that someone as small as Hiro could actually even come close to breaking the older boy's arm, but no one pointed that out as the elder Hamada pulls his brother into a tight hug.

"Well, all's well that ends well," Aunt Cass says firmly, smiling at the boys. "Things might be a little uncomfortable with the neighbors for a while, and we'll certainly be looking for a new church, but overall that turned out a lot better than it could have."

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees quietly, looking like he was still trying to believe how things had turned out. "I-I'd hate to think what would have happened to a poor kid whose families wasn't supportive…"

"Let's just focus on the positive, okay?" Aunt Cass tells him, pecking him on the cheek before straightening and saying, "Well, I don't believe any of you boys have had lunch yet, so how about you all just rest here while I get it ready, okay?"

"O-okay," Tadashi agrees, giving her a warm smile as she heads towards the kitchen. Fred notes that she takes her shotgun with her but he decides not to say anything about it. Who knew if that crazy pastor was going to come back and try to exorcise Tadashi or something? Better to be safe than sorry.

The family was just gathering in the kitchen for lunch when there was suddenly a loud, insistent knocking on the door and a booming voice called out, "Sheriff's office. Open up, please."

"What in the blazes-?" Aunt Cass lets out a low growl of frustration, but Fred is glad that she does leave her gun as she pulls her napkin off of her lap and heads for the front door.

Tadashi looks worriedly over at the other two, not saying anything but his eyes betraying his fear. Hiro is much the same, but he reaches over to squeeze his brother's hand even as Fred soothingly rubs his knee.

There's the sound of angry voices out in the hall, two unfamiliar men's and a lot of Aunt Cass'. Finally the door slams shut and then there's the sound of Aunt Cass sobbing. Instantly Fred's gut turns. If she was crying, this couldn't be good. Still, he pulls Tadashi close, determined to protect him from whatever might happen next.

"W-what's wrong?" Tadashi asks softly, his voice full of fear when his aunt finally comes back in, her face still red as she wipes tears from her eyes.

"T-that was the police…" she answers, her voice a cross between enraged and devastated. "T-they say you both have twenty-four hours to get out of town… Or they're going to throw you in jail."

"What?" Fred's is the first voice to finally break the silence. "T-They can't do that! We didn't do anything illegal! We didn't even lay a hand on that guy!"

"A-apparently somewhere back in the town's charter, there's still an old sodomy law that prevents two men or women from being together… It's so antiquated that it shouldn't still be in effect, but it was never struck down, and it's punishable by imprisonment," Aunt Cass answers brokenly.

"That's complete bull shit!" Fred cries, enraged. "That wouldn't stand up in an court!"

"It might not, but they could still lock you both up until we could contest it in court or post bail," Aunt Cass replies softly. "And Heaven knows we can't afford a lawyer…"

"My dad has more lawyers than he knows what to do with, he could take care of it," Fred answers firmly. "Heck, we could have someone out here by tonight if I got calling him now."

Aunt Cass seems to be considering this before she suddenly shakes her head. "No."

"No? What you want us to be put in jail?" Fred asks in disbelief before thinking of a possible reason and saying, "Look, if you think you'd owe us, I swear, it isn't going to be a problem-"

"I mean, 'No', I'm not putting up with this sort of thing anymore," Aunt Cass replies, her tone going stern and fierce. "I've turned a blind eye to too many things in this town, and I'm not going to stand by and let them hurt my family anymore. If they don't want Tadashi and you here, fine. Then this isn't a place I want my boys to be living."

"W-what are you saying?" Tadashi asks softly.

"I never wanted to spend the rest of my life on this farm anyways," Aunt Cass answers firmly. "I was only doing it because I thought it was 'expected' of me, but to hell with that."

"So, what are we going to do?" Hiro asks, looking a combination of nervous and excited.

"Well, I've always wanted to try my hand at owning a cafe-guess there's worse things you could do in SF," Aunt Cass muses.

"Wait, you're talking about moving to SF?!" Hiro and Tadashi cry.

"I'd already been thinking about it," Aunt Cass answers. "With both of your boys planning to go to college out there anyways, I can't run the farm all on my own, and it being where you could more realistically get jobs in your field in the future, I thought it would make more sense to live out there so we didn't have to travel so far to see each other. This just seems like a little divine intervention telling me to finally go for it."

"But it takes a lot of money to move like that," Tadashi points out worriedly.

"Well, old man Svenson who lives next to us has been after me to sell this land to him for years. He'd be willing to pay me pretty well for it, so that would at least get us started," Aunt Cass replies.

"Plus, my dad has a lot of commercial real estate in SF," Fred adds eagerly. "I'm sure for an old family friend he'd be more than happy to help you out!"

"Well then, it's settled!" Aunt Cass says brightly.

"But what about Dashi and Fred and the police?" Hiro points out. "The can't wait for us to move…"

"Sadly, no," Aunt Cass agrees with a sigh. "I think, as sad as it is, you boys are going to have to pack and leave out of here before the twenty-four hours are up. Probably the sooner the better given you never know if that son of a bitch might try to force the deadline up."

"I can be packed in an hour," Fred promises.

"I…" Tadashi seems at a loss for words.

"You won't have to pack everything, sweetie," Aunt Cass reassures him. "Just what you need to tide you over-we'll pack your things for you and bring them with us when you move, and we can send anything to you that you really need."

"And you don't have to worry about a place to stay-trust me, my family has plenty of space, you can have your own room and everything!" Fred adds. He hoped that this last bit would soothe any of Aunt Cass' worries, and, as she didn't say anything, he can only hope for the best.

Tadashi nods silently before saying in a quavery voice, "It… It's just going to be hard to say goodbye to this place, y'know?"

"Oh, honey... " Aunt Cass wraps him up into a tight hug. "I know it is. I think you have a little time, why don't you go around and get a chance to say your last goodbyes before packing?"

It turned out that they all went with him-no one felt safe letting him go by himself, so they formed a sort of three person security contingent around him. They didn't have time to cover the entire grounds, but Tadashi got to see his favorite places and say goodbye to the animals in the barn (Aunt Cass promised that they'd all go to good homes and that she'd make sure to take pictures of everything so that they could make a photo album of all their best memories from this place later when they were settled in SF.) Then it was back to the house and Fred went to his room to pack while the rest of the family went to help Tadashi. It didn't take Fred long to get all of his belongings together-he hadn't brought much and wasn't really bringing anything back from this place but his memories. He didn't know if he should go help Tadashi, but given the old phrase "too many cooks in the kitchen" and knowing that part of the packing was the family's way of saying goodbye to Tadashi until they saw him again, he decides to head back down to wait in the living room. This day-heck, this whole trip had been nothing like he'd expected it to. But looking back on it now, he honestly wouldn't change a single thing. Well, maybe the whole Tadashi being screamed at by a psycho preacher thing. But even that had brought about changes that would hopefully be for the best, and he was determined to be there to help his boyfriend deal with any of the trauma that might have come from that.

About ten minutes later, Tadashi comes down the stairs followed by Aunt Cass, loaded down with two large dufflebags.

"You ready?" Fred asks, standing up from the couch.

"As I'll ever be," Tadashi answers giving him an uncertain smile but his eyes giving off just a hint of excitement.

Together the family walks out to Tadashi's truck. The bags are loaded into the back seat, then Aunt Cass insists on checking all the fluid levels to make sure that the truck is ready for the long drive, finally declaring that it was drivable. Then there's the round of hugs and kisses as the family says goodbye to Tadashi and, to the farm hand's surprise, to Fred as well, Aunt Cass making Tadashi promise to call whenever they stopped for the night and when they arrived in SF, which he readily agrees to. Finally the couple climbs up into the cab of the truck and, after Tadashi turns the key in the ignition, they start to back out onto the dusty dirt road. Aunt Cass waves, and Hiro actually chases after them until they pull out onto the main road. Tadashi turns the radio onto a local country station which is, ironically enough, is playing "Texas in My Rearview Mirror", and the two ride in silence, the music filling the gap, all the way until they reach the county line.

Tadashi pulls to a stop at the sign, allowing the truck to idle for a moment.

"You ready for this?" Fred asks softly, reaching over to take his hand in his own.

"You know what?" Tadashi looks over at him and smiles. "With you? I think I'm ready for anything."

Fred grins and pecks him on the cheek, Tadashi returning the kiss full-force before shifting the truck back into gear and the two head off down the road towards their new future.


	3. Chapter 3

Fred was surprised when, three hours later, they were still driving through Texas.

"The joke around here is that by the time you actually get out of Texas, you're halfway there," Tadashi tells him with a slight smile as they continue down the highway.

"How long of a drive is this?" Fred asks, settling back against his seat and trying to get comfortable-unfortunately for him, he was someone who needed to constantly be on the move, so road trips had never really agreed with him.

"It's a 25 hour drive total," Tadashi answers, giving him a sideways look. "You want to take a rest stop and stretch your legs?"

"That would be awesome, if you don't mind," Fred admits, giving him a grateful look.

"It's probably a good idea-plus we didn't really get to eat, so we should probably do that while we're at it," Tadashi answers, beginning to check the billboards that they're driving past, looking for a good place to stop. Finally he spots a sign for a Love's gas station with a Subway restaurant attached and decides to go for that.

"This is pretty big for a gas station," Fred notes as they pull into the parking lot.

"Yeah, it's kind of like a gift shop thing attached to a regular gas station," Tadashi answers as he heads for an open station. "Do you want to go on in while I fill up?"

"Do you mind?" Fred replies, honestly antsy to get out of the truck and stretch.

"Go right on ahead-I'll meet you inside, okay?" Tadashi reassures him, pecking him on the cheek.

"Okay!" Fred grins, pecking him back before heading across the parking lot.

The inside of the main store was spacious, if a bit crowded with customers. Fred's eyes roam around the inside, taking in the usual convenience store interior of rows of overpriced snack foods and drinks. He can't help but grin, though, at the small section dedicated just to "Texas" merchandise: cowboy hats, stuffed armadillos, and multi colored statues of horses. It almost reminded him of how he'd expected Texas to be when he first came here at the beginning of summer. It hadn't turned out to be what he'd expected-a lot dirtier and harder than he'd originally planned, and unfortunately his ideas of small town life would forever be tainted by the memories of yesterday and how people who had seemed so nice could so easily turn on one of their own. Well, technically he only knew that for sure about the pastor, that bitch Meg, and the local sheriff's department, but he had a pretty good feeling that the rest of the town would react the same way when they found out. Still, he had to remember that there had been good moments and people there too-Aunt Cass and Hiro, to name a couple. He didn't really know Jo March that well, but he felt like she would have been supportive-heck, she had kind of set off his own gaydar, so maybe she'd eventually come out of the closet too. He could only hope that her family would be as supportive as Tadashi's had been if that was the case.

"Watcha looking at?" Fred hadn't even heard Tadashi coming up behind him, but he turns to smile at the man.

"Oh, y'know, just laughing at how kitschy this stuff is but getting a little bit nostalgic at the same time," the ex-farmhand answers.

"Yeah, I never know if I should be offended by this stuff or just find it cute," Tadashi answers with a slight smile before picking up a little stuffed palomino horse with brown spots and a dark mane. "This one kind of reminds me of Brownie."

Brownie was one of the horses on the Hamada's farm. While a bit on the old side, the mare was still sweet as could be, and Tadashi had taken Fred out for rides on her a couple of times during the summer. The fanboy had really liked Brownie-she didn't seem to give a fig if the two of them started kissing in front of her. Animals were awesome like that-they didn't judge and, as long as you didn't try to hurt them or someone they cared about, they let you go about your business. Too bad the rest of the world couldn't be like that.

Noticing the wistful look on his boyfriend's face as he runs his fingers over the plush's fur, Fred asks softly, "Do you want her?"

"What? Oh, no, I'm just being a little nostalgic myself," Tadashi answers, blushing.

"No, I know that look." Fred grins as he picks up the small stuffed animal and kisses the other man on the cheek. "I'll be right back, 'kay?"

He goes to pay for it and returns a few minutes later with a triumphant look, gently pressing the bag into Tadashi's chest. "There. You can't argue now, she's all yours."

"T-thank you…" Tadashi gives him a grateful smile, actually looking slightly teary-eyed, and Fred realizes that this is probably the closest thing he's going to have to the old horse at this point. He debates asking his dad if they could put in a small stable on the grounds, but he realizes that given his dad never let him so much as have a puppy or even a small lizard he'd never agree to a horse. Well, at least the plush would be something, and he wraps his arm comfortingly around Tadashi's waist, causing the other man to smile at him before gesturing to the Subway.

"So, you hungry?" he asks, and Fred allows him to change the subject without complaining at all.

"Starving," the fanboy admits, and together they walk over to the restaurant.

Half an hour later, they're on the road again, and Fred is yet again staring out the window. It's not that the scenery is ugly or anything, but there are just so many fields of cotton and cows that you can take before they begin to drive you a little crazy. He tried to distract himself by listening to the radio, but, again, he could only take country music in small doses. Gosh, why hadn't he thought to grab a book out of his bag at the last rest stop?

Hey, wait a minute! He did have books, on his phone! Perfect! However, he glances over at Tadashi, who was looking slightly glassy eyed, and he feels kind of guilty about leaving him to his boredom while he was getting lost in a fantasy world. But wait, maybe he didn't have to abandon Tadashi at all. He had a pretty large library of audiobooks on his phone. This could be totally perfect!  
"Hey, Dashi?" Fred reaches over to turn the radio down.

"Mm?" Tadashi glances over at him, looking glad for the distraction.

"How would you feel about me putting on an audiobook?"

"Audio...book?" Tadashi looks momentarily confused.

"Y'know, a recording of someone reading a book?"

"Oh!" Tadashi's eyes light up with understanding. "Right! I've heard of those-sorry, you grow up in a small town you don't always keep up to date on that sort of stuff… But sure, that sounds pretty fun, actually! What do you have in mind?"

"Well, let me take a look at what I've got," Fred answer, beginning to look through his list of files. "Um… Well, there's a lot of Shakespeare and the classics because you can get most of those for free, but I don't want to be putting either of us to sleep… Oh! This could be good!" He grins down at the image of the boy in glasses riding on a broomstick that had come up on his screen. "I've got all seven Harry Potter books! Not that we'll get through all of them on the trip, but we could pick and choose a couple of our favorites!"

He glances over to gauge Tadashi's reaction, only to see that his boyfriend was blushing and looking slightly uncomfortable. "I'll take it you don't care for the books?" Fred asks, trying to convince himself that, if that was the case, that his boyfriend wasn't a complete and total heathen.

"I just… I've never actually read them," Tadashi admits.

"...How can you not have read them?! They were an entire generation's childhood!" Fred cries.

"They were kind of banned in my town," Tadashi answers. "Y'know, satanic influences and all that stuff."

Fred lets out grunt of disgust. "There is nothing satanic about these books! Hell, they have a very strong 'good vs. evil' theme, and it's not like the characters are going to the devil for their powers, it's more like a special force of nature that some people can harness!"

"Well…" Tadashi seems to be considering this before saying rebelliously, "Y'know what? Screw it, let's do it. If I can be gay, I can listen to Harry Potter if I fucking want to!"

"Amen to that!" Fred grins, reaching into the backseat to fish the connecting wire out of his bag before hooking the phone up to the speakers and hitting "play".

Tadashi was hooked within the first thirty seconds. Fred couldn't help but grin at just how adorably excited his boyfriend was over the story, and he couldn't help but remember his own first time reading the books when he was seven. He'd been convinced that he would get his owl from Hogwarts when he turned eleven, and while sadly it never happened that didn't keep him from getting as deeply into the fandom as he could. Heck, writing fanfiction for it had probably what had gotten him interested in writing in the first place!  
"That was so amazing!" Tadashi's cries as he pulls into the parking lot of the restaurant he'd chosen for dinner.

"Heck, we've just barely started," Fred chuckles, loving his enthusiasm and finding it infectious. "I swear, if I'd gotten invited to go, I totally would have been in Gryffindor!"

"I think I would have been a Hufflepuff," Tadashi replies after a moment's consideration.

"Really? I would have thought Ravenclaw with how smart you are!" Fred says.

"Well, yeah, but I'd like to think my life is about more than just studying and grades," Tadashi answers.

"All right, true that," Fred answers with a slight smile. He could see Tadashi looking really cute in a Hufflepuff tie anyways.

"So, um, where are we, exactly?" he asks, glancing at the building in front of them. "Cracker… Barrel? It's a place that sells crackers and barrels?"

"No!" Tadashi laughs, lightly swatting him as he starts to open his door and climb out. "It's supposed to be like an old-fashioned country restaurant. There are a lot of them in Texas, but I've heard there aren't any in California, or at least not yet, and I figured this was probably my last chance to visit one in awhile, plus I thought you needed to see one, so here we are!"

"Okay, I can go with that," Fred agrees, nodding slightly before grinning and saying, "Um… You do realize this is our first time actually going out to dinner somewhere, right?"

Tadashi looks slightly thunderstruck before grinning back and saying, "Yeah, I guess you're right!"

"So, am I allowed to escort you in?" Fred asks, offering him his arm.

"S-sure!" Tadashi agrees, blushing slightly and taking it.

Beaming like he had just won the Caldecott medal, Fred leads him across the parking lot towards the front door.

"What the heck is with all of these rocking chairs?" he asks curiously as they enter the porch-yes, the restaurant had an actual freaking front porch to it.

"They sell them here," Tadashi explains. "But people come out here to just sit and talk or play checkers and stuff." He gestures to an old fashioned checkerboard made out of a board and a barrel.

"I don't know if that's cute or kind of cheesy," Fred admits.

"Wait until you see the inside," Tadashi chuckles, pulling him towards the door.

"Holy-I thought this was a restaurant!" Fred cries when they go inside and he finds himself in he midst of a shop that looked like a cross between a general store and one of those little boutiques he saw in historic downtown SF.

"It is," Tadashi agrees. "But it's also a store."

"So, it's like a restaurant that has its own gift shop?" Fred asks.

"Yeah, kind of!" Tadashi chuckles.

"Don't tell me-the servers are dressed up in costumes."

"No, but that would actually be kind of awesome!" Tadashi laughs before leading him through the shop (which to Fred felt kind of like a maze) to the hostess stand near the back of it.

"Table for two," he tells the girl standing there.

"Right." The girl glances at their linked hands and raises an eyebrow but merely asks, "Breakfast or dinner menus?"

"Both," Tadashi answers with a warm smile.

"Isn't it a little late for them to be serving breakfast?" Fred whispers.

"Nope, they serve it all day-it's one of the cool things about this place," Tadashi answers.

"Yeah, that is kind of cool," Fred admits, thinking how nice it would be to be able to order pancakes at places whenever he randomly got a craving for them.

"All right, your server will be right with you," the girl says, leaving them at a table. Grinning, Fred puls Tadashi's chair out for him, and his boyfriend smiles up at him as he takes a seat.

"Ever the gentleman, aren't you?" he lightly teases him.

"Hey, it's our first date going out someplace, I think it's kind of mandatory," Fred returns with a grin before sitting down and looking at their surroundings. "Whoa-what's with all the crazy old stuff on the walls? And, is that a deer head over a friggin' fireplace? Does that thing actually work?!"

"It's supposed to be country," Tadashi chuckles and shrugs before turning his attention to his menu.

Fred honestly wasn't sure what to choose, but since he could he decides to order blueberry pancakes just for the heck of it. Tadashi orders country fried steak, and the fanboy can tell that he's probably trying to get something that's as close to his aunt's cooking as he can before heading to California where it was harder to find something this close to her home cooking. Fred makes a mental note to ask his family's cook, Marie, to see if she had any country-ish recipes she could make for Tadashi.

Speaking of, Fred realizes that he totally hadn't texted to let everyone know that he and Tadashi were coming. His parents really wouldn't care, plus they were probably gone for the whole summer, so he doesn't need to bother with them just yet. But the family's butler, Heathcliff, and the rest of the staff would need to know to prepare for their arrival-more specifically, so that they could actually get a room (or, preferably, a small suite of rooms) set up for Tadashi. He pulls out his phone and quickly starts sending off texts to the necessary people.

"Everything okay?" Tadashi asks, watching him.

"Just realized that I needed to let everyone know that we're coming," Fred answers, finishing the last text and setting his phone down on the table to await replies.

"Y-you're sure that your family won't mind my staying?" Tadashi asks, suddenly looking nervous. "I-I'd hate to impose…"

"Tadashi, you are not, in any sense of the word, imposing," Fred replies firmly, reaching over to squeeze his boyfriend's hands in his own. "Trust me, everything is going to be fine. You just went through more shit than anyone should ever be expected to go through in their lifetime in one day, and right now all you need to do is just let me take care of you, okay?"

"O-okay," Tadashi agrees softly. It was obvious that he had a hard time letting someone else take care of him-Fred could imagine why given he had been forced to be the man of the family for years-but it was obvious that he could tell that he was in over his head at this point and so he was going to allow it. It was enough to make the fanboy want to go around to the other side of the table and pull him into comforting embrace, to show him that everything was going to be okay, but instead he settles for leaning over and kissing him on the cheek, which Tadashi seems to appreciate just as much.

After the two guys finish dinner, they hit the road again for a couple of hours, but by eleven Fred can tell that Tadashi is nodding off at the wheel. He would have suggested that he could take over, but not only had he never driven a truck before, he was feeling pretty out of it so he suggests that they stop for the night. Tadashi doesn't protest, and so when they reach the near the next town Fred starts looking for a good place to stay.

"Well, there's a place," Tadashi says, pointing tiredly to a motel sign.

"Ew, no." Fred instantly scrunches his nose up. No, he wasn't a germophobe, but he didn't fancy spending the night in a place where there would be cockroaches in the bed and a shower full of mold.

"All right, but I don't think there are a lot of options so we can't be too picky," Tadashi sighs.

Fred grabs the phone they were using for gps and starts looking for hotels in the nearby area. "Oh, there's a Marriott coming up, that will be perfect!" he says, directing his boyfriend to take the next exit.

"Um, this place looks a little… expensive," Tadashi notes as they pull into the parking lot, looking slightly concerned.

"Dude, trust me, it's not a problem-my dad has to travel all over the world for his job and he stays in these places all the time, so we have a bunch of rewards points here-it won't cost us anything," Fred reassures him. Not that it would have been a problem even if they had had to pay, he could have easily afforded it, but somehow he still hadn't figured out how to bring it up with his boyfriend that fact that his family was loaded. It had always been a pretty touchy subject for him given how many times it had caused people to treat him differently (for better or worse) once they found out, and while he trusted Tadashi it was still something that he just hadn't had the courage to tell him yet (and yes, he knew this made him a total hypocrite, but if once burned made you twice as shy he was a hundred times as shy about it by now.) Fortunately, Tadashi seemed too out of it to press for details, just nodding and opening his door before starting to grab their bags from the back.

Once inside, Fred leaves Tadashi (who was pretty much asleep on his feet) at a chair in the lobby guarding the bags while he goes up to handle getting the room. Fortunately he doesn't have any problems-his family is fairly well known throughout the country because of his dad's company and so Fred barely even has to show them ID to get access to a good room for the night. The only question the stops him is how many beds they need in the room. As tempting as it is to say one-when else would he and Tadashi get a chance like this, out on their own and staying in a hotel where no one would even raise an eyebrow or even have to know if they shared a bed or… y'know, did more than just sleeping in it? But he glances over at his boyfriend and sees how tired he is and he just doesn't have the heart to do it. He'd feel like he was taking advantage of him, forcing him into something he might later regret but hadn't been cognizant enough to refuse. There would be time for that sort of thing later, and tonight he just wanted to get Tadashi safely into a room where he could sleep off his exhaustion without having to worry about anyone or anything trying to hurt him.

"Two beds," Fred says firmly before accepting the keys to their room.

Fred's pretty sure that Tadashi just barely makes it to their room before crashing onto the nearest bed. Sure, he was fully clothed and he didn't even bother to pull the blankets back, but given how exhausted he was after what had probably been an extremely straining day (physically, mentally, and emotionally), Fred didn't blame him at all for it. The fanboy decides that he might as well go freshen up and check his texts before heading to his own bed since Tadashi was already asleep, but he's as quiet as he can to prevent disturbing his poor, worn out boyfriend.

When he returns to the main room, he sees that Tadashi was still lying like a log on the bed and so, wanting him to be more comfortable, he goes over and carefully takes off the man's shoes before gently tugging the blankets out from under him so that he can actually pull them over him to keep him from getting cold during the night. It's a bit of an arduous process (it's hard to get sheets out from underneath a sleeping person without accidentally tossing them to the floor!) but he finally manages it. Starting to feel a bit drained himself, Fred reaches over to turn the lights off and is just about to climb into his own bed when suddenly he hears a quiet voice saying, "Fred?"

"Yeah Dashi?" Fred comes over to him, laying a gently arm on his shoulder. "You doing okay?"

He doesn't get a response immediately, and he's about to head back to his own bed, thinking that his boyfriend had fallen back asleep, when suddenly Tadashi grabs his arm and, rolling over slightly, pulls him down onto the bed with him.

"Oh, um… Hi?" Fred finds himself repeating the same words he'd said all those months ago right before Tadashi had kissed him for the first time. But this time, there was no passionate scene to follow-Tadashi merely wraps his arms around him, snuggling him against his chest before letting out a quiet sigh that told the fanboy that he was asleep again.

After finally getting his heart and lungs to start working again, Fred realizes that this hadn't been anything sexual on his boyfriend's part-at least not intentionally. It must have just been a reflex of some sort that had kind of worked out in the fanboy's favor. He considers trying to squirm away so that things wouldn't be really uncomfortable in the morning when Tadashi woke up, but the other man had his arms wrapped too tightly around him and he found that, like it or not, he was stuck for the night. Well, might as well enjoy this while he could, right? Sighing in contentment, Fred nuzzles up against his boyfriend, whispering softly, "Love you, Dashi" before allowing himself to drift off to sleep

Flashes. Bright lights and blurry images. Aunt Cass was there, Hiro too, both looking so disappointed in him-mad almost. The pastor, Meg March-his whole town, frowning at him, shaking their head, yelling at him, screaming that he was going to hell, telling him that there was something wrong with him, threatening to lock him up as a freak. Over and over and over again, the scenes play until he felt like he was suffocating…

Tadashi wakes up in a dark room, not sure where he is. This isn't his room. This isn't his bed. And the nightmares from his sleep are still tearing at him…

Suddenly, two strong arms are around him, holding him close.

"Sh, it's okay. I've got you. You're going to be okay." A soft voice. A reassuring voice. Fred's voice. Fred's arms. Fred was holding him.

"It's all right. No one's going to hurt you." The voice again, comforting, a lifeline through the dark. He hadn't even realized that he was shivering until he felt his body vibrating against another, and for a moment his brain seems to be telling him that there's something wrong with this, but he can't think what and, anyways, he was too tired and this felt too nice to care.

Soft lips brush against his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, finally settling on his lips.

Tadashi feels warm breath mingling with his own, and he allows himself to drift off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Fred wakes up the next morning to the incessant, irritating beeping of an alarm. Why had he set it for such an unholy hour again? Oh, that's right. Because he didn't want to be getting back into SF at an even unholier hour tonight.

He feels something moving against him in the bed, and his eyes fly open, startled. It takes him a minute to remember what had happened last night, and when his eyes settle on his boyfriend, who was squirming slightly, as if not quite ready to wake up yet, he feels his breath catch. Tadashi looked so beautiful, his hair in a rumpled mess, his shirt hitched halfway up his chest, his almond shaped eyes just starting to blink open. This… Somehow, in this moment, he knew this was who he wanted to wake up next to every morning for the rest of his life.

That is, provided his boyfriend didn't murder him if he thought that he'd tried to take advantage of him last night. Still, Tadashi doesn't look freaked out or angry as he slowly grows more awake. Instead a sleepy smile crosses his face as he yawns, "Good morning."

Oh man, why did he have to look like a sleepy kitten when he did that?

"Morning," Fred answers, daring to reach over and gently stroke his cheek. "Sleep well?"

"Mmn…" Tadashi's face momentarily darkens. "Think I had some nightmares…"

"I'm sorry," Fred says softly.

"But I think you helped," Tadashi adds, yawning again and still not looking fully awake but smiling again, at least.

"I, um… You're welcome?" Fred vaguely remembered waking up during the night and hearing Tadashi talking in his sleep, but he was never good at remembering things that had happened while he was asleep. His boyfriend just nods before starting to stretch.

"How about I hit the shower first so you have a little bit more time to wake up, okay?" Fred suggests, lightly ruffling the other man's hair.

"'Kay," Tadashi agrees, nuzzling back into the mattress.

Fred tries to be as quiet as he can getting ready for the day so that he can let his boyfriend get in a last few precious minutes of sleep. By the time he comes back into the main room, however, Tadashi was already out of bed and digging through his bag to find fresh clothes. Fred pauses just inside the entryway, slightly nervous-now that his boyfriend was more awake, was he going to be mad about what had happened last night?

"U-um, shower's open," the fanboy finally manages to get out. "There's soap and towels and stuff in there if you need them…"

Tadashi looks up at him and smiles. "Okay, thanks!" He walks past him on the way to the bathroom and, to Fred's surprise, actually pecks him quickly on the cheek before heading in to shower.

Okay, wow… Fred blinks rapidly as he sits down on the edge of the bed, trying to collect his thoughts. Apparently Tadashi wasn't mad? Well, as long as he wasn't, he certainly wasn't about to go stirring up trouble and he can't help but grin as he starts gathering up the few things he'd taken out the night before. He'd just spent the night with Tadashi, in the same bed, and while it hadn't been sexual or anything, it had been sweet and perfect and innocent, and he couldn't think of a better way to have had their first time. He could only hope that their first time for everything else would be just as great.  
Soon Tadashi returns from the shower, and together they head down to breakfast. Fred would have considered just ordering room service, but this seemed like the faster route, and given they had about fourteen hours of driving to cover today, the sooner they could get out of here the better. Both were surprisingly hungry, and they wolfed down the eggs and sausage that were available, along with large cups of coffee to help them stay awake on the road (Fred wasn't much of a coffee person, but he'd had to get used to drinking it on the farm, plus he knew that he needed the caffeine to get him going until he could get his hands on some soda, his more preferred source of artificial energy.) The two didn't talk much, but Fred found Tadashi gently bumping up against his leg and squeezing his hand under the table and it was enough to send tiny thrills though his stomach every time they connected.

Soon enough they were back out on the road again, and Fred settled in for the long drive that he knew was coming today. He tried to stay awake to keep Tadashi company, but the other man told him to go ahead and take a nap if he needed to. The fanboy agreed, but only on the provision that he would take the next shift-he refused to let Tadashi drive the entire fourteen hours by himself. He stayed awake long enough to memorize where everything was in the truck-he had learned how to drive with several different types of cars, thanks to the fact that his dad had a small collection of them, and fortunately at least one of them had been stick-before allowing himself to nod off.

By the time he woke up, the sun was well into the sky, the clock read eleven thirty, and they were pulling into a gas station. He felt guilty for having passed out for almost four hours, but Tadashi told him not to worry about it, that he'd mainly just missed a bunch of desserts but that he thought now would be a good time to stop and grab some lunch before switching drivers and starting off again. Fred instantly agrees to that, and they both climb out of the cab. As soon as he reaches his side of the truck, the other man reaches out and takes his hand in his, and the fanboy feels like he's practically glowing as they head inside.

"So, I called Aunt Cass while you were sleeping this morning," Tadashi tells him over a lunch of fast food tacos (nothing compared to Aunt Cass' amazing homemade ones, but edible.) "I hope I didn't disturb you, but I wanted to let her know that we were okay."

"Oh my gosh, I am such an idiot, I should have called her last night!" Fred groans, facepalming.

"No, it's okay," Tadashi reassures him. "She's not mad-or, at least not much. She's mainly just glad that we're okay." He blushes slightly as he adds, "She, um… She kinda said she almost expected us not to call last night… Since we were staying in a hotel and everything…"

"Oh." Fred feels his own cheeks turn bright pink. "W-what did you tell her?"

"I told her that nothing went on, but I'm not sure she believed me," Tadashi admits wryly.

"So, um, about last night…" Fred begins absentmindedly starts shredding one of his tortillas. "I, um… Did you want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure exactly what there is to talk about," Tadashi answers with a slight shrug.

"I just-I hope you know that I wasn't… That I didn't initiate anything and I wasn't, like, trying to get into your pants," Fred says quickly, hating that he actually had to say these words to someone he viewed as so sweet and pure as Tadashi but wanting to make sure that he knew the truth. "You were pretty dead to the world but you kinda pulled me down onto the bed with you…:

"I figured as much," Tadashi says with a mild chuckle that instantly made Fred feel better. "I know that you'd never try to do something like that, and besides, I've done the whole 'sleep kidnapping someone' thing to Hiro before too, and he complains about it but apparently it's just this weird sleep reflex that I have."

"Gotcha." Fred nods, not sure if it kinda made things weird comparing what he had thought was a very intimate moment for them to something that had happened between two siblings.

"But...It was really, really nice," Tadashi adds a bit shyly, his cheeks flushing again. "I mean, I don't remember much of it, but… Waking up with you this morning… It felt good. Amazing, even." He ducks his head, looking up at Fred thought those gosh-danged thick eyelashes. "I-I'm sorry, am I making this weird?"

"What? NO!" Fred cries quickly. "I-It was the same way for me! It almost felt… Felt like that's the way it was supposed to be. Me waking up next to you every morning, hopefully for the rest of our lives."

Tadashi bites his lip, looking adorably embarrassed, but he nods all the same. "M-me too," he says softly.

"Yeah?" Fred can't help but grin.

:"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, grinning back at him.

"Well… Awesome." Fred didn't know exactly what to say next, and apparently Tadashi didn't either because they were both smiling and blushing like idiots, but eventually the other man reaches over and worms his hand into the fanboy's, and they stay there for a little bit, just holding hands, enjoying the moment. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

A little while later, the two climb back up into the truck, Fred taking the driver's seat this time and Tadashi sitting shotgun.

"Have you ever driven a truck before?" Tadashi asks a bit nervously as they pull out of the parking lot in a bit of a lurching fashion.

"No," Fred admits. "But hey, no time to learn like the present, right?"

Tadashi rolls his eye, still seeming a bit ill at his ease, but with a bit of coaching the fanboy's driving soon levels out. It probably helped that they had miles of just straight-ahead highway in front of them and soon Fred felt confident behind the wheel of this new vehicle.

"You might have a hard time getting me to let you drive again, I'm doing so good at this," the man lightly teases his boyfriend.

"Oh, trust me, in a few hours when you're saddlesore, you'll be begging me to take back over," Tadashi banters back.

"All right, true that," Fred chuckles. They drive in silence for a little bit before he notices Tadashi shifting in his seat and gazing intensely at him. "What?" he asks, blushing slightly at the way his boyfriend was staring at him.

"Well, I kind of have an important question for you…" Tadashi replies slowly.

"Y-yeah?" Fred answers, his mouth going slightly dry and his grip tightening on the wheel. "Shoot."

"I was just wondering…" Tadashi looks up at him shyly before blurting, "Can we please start listening to Harry Potter again? I want to know what happens next!"

Fred lets out a slightly relieved laugh, somehow glad that it hadn't been anything more serious-he couldn't do too many serious conversations in too short a period of time!

"Sure," he answers, pulling his phone out of his pocket and tossing it to Tadashi.

With a bit of help, Tadashi is able to find the right file and soon the car is filled again with the sound of the narrator describing the adventures of the boy wizard and his friends.

About an hour or two later, the guys pass a large sign welcoming them to California. At Fred's insistence, they pull off to the side of the road and take a picture in front of it to send to Aunt Cass.

"Welcome home, Tadashi," Fred whispers into his boyfriend's ear as the other man sends off the message.

"Yeah." Tadashi smiles up at him, his eyes shining slightly. "Home."

A couple of hours into California, they switch drivers at a gas station about the same time that the first book ends. They were on the homestretch, even if the homestretch still put them another about six or seven hours out from San Fransokyo, possibly a bit longer depending on the traffic. Fred started the next book in the series, knowing that they wouldn't finish it but promising Tadashi that he had the rest of the stories in his library at home and he could borrow them to finish off the series-unless he wanted to keep listening to them together, which was perfectly fine by him (he could only hope that there might be some degree of cuddling or other intimate activity taking place as they did so.)

The closer that they got to San Fransokyo, however, the more the unsettled feeling in Fred's stomach grew. He knew that Tadashi was going to find out the truth about his family sooner or later, but he still couldn't help but be worried that he'd somehow start seeing or treating him differently once he knew. It had his insides so tied up in knots that when Tadashi asked him if he wanted to stop and get some dinner, he only shook his head, unable to even think of eating at the moment.

"Alright, that's it." Tadashi suddenly reaches over and pauses the recording of the story. "Something's got you upset, and I want to know what."

"N-nothing's wrong!" Fred answers, wincing when his voice comes out in an uncomfortable squeak.

"Uh huh, sure," Tadashi drawls-Fred both loved and hated how his southern accent really came out when he was being sarcastic.

"C'mon." The other man's hand is suddenly on his knee, looking over at him with those heart-melting brown eyes. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. Seriously-you've seen and heard all of my dirty laundry in the last twenty-four hour period, you should know by now that there's nothing you could say or do that could make me love you any less."

"I-I know," Fred whispers, gulping convulsively at the use of the "l-word". "It's just-this is kind of hard for me to talk about because I've lost friends over it before… Not that it's something bad, necessarily. But they'd… They'd treat me differently, and sometimes they'd think that somehow I thought I was better than them because of them because of it-which I didn't, in any way!-or they'd try to take advantage of it."

"Fred, you know I'm not like that," Tadashi says softly, almost like he was hurt that his boyfriend would even think something like that about him, but all the same squeezing the fanboy's knee.

"No, I know you're not!" Fred groans. "But it's still hard to talk about it after having to keep my mouth shut for so long!"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Tadashi's tone is more gentle this time. "You can tell me when or if you're ever ready."

"But that's the thing, I do have to tell you or else you're going to find out about it tonight anyways," Fred answers, running his hands agitatedly through his hair.

"Well, if you'd rather just wait and let me find it out-" Tadashi starts to hedge.

"No, I need to be honest with you, just like you've been honest with me about everything so far," Fred answers. He takes a deep breath and squeezes his eyes shut before finally blurting, "My family's rich. Like, really freaking rich. My grandad was already old money, and then my dad started this company when he was back in college that really took off and, well, now he's kind of this multi-billionaire who travels around the world on a regular basis taking care of the business and doing whatever the hell else he wants. My mom's usually with him, so I spend most of my time living in the mansion and being taken care of by the servants-which, yes, we have a mansion and servants. That's why I kept telling you that money wasn't a problem on this trip and why I said we had plenty of room for you, because we do. And I swear, I don't think I'm better than anyone else because of this, I really don't. Actually, most of the time I end up wishing my family was normal so I didn't feel like I had to hide all of this from everyone, and I try to do everything I can to help others so I don't feel like I'm entitled or anything, but it… It's just hard to talk about, okay? Please don't hate me…" He says these last few words in a quiet voice, as if somehow adding this almost apology to the end might make Tadashi hate him less than he probably already did.

"Oh, Fred…" he hears his boyfriend gasp quietly, and he winces, waiting for whatever horrible things he might have to say to him. But instead, he feels Tadashi's hand squeezing his own and then he hears the other man saying, "I am so, so sorry about all of that. That is… That is completely fucked up, no one should ever have to go through anything like that. But I'm also so incredibly awed by and proud of you. You're right, you don't act like you're entitled or anything close to it. If anything, you're a much better person than most people who have a lot less than you. You're willing to help people without thinking whatever it might cost to you, and you have a genuine, loving heart that honestly cares about others. You are AMAZING, Fred. And I want you to know that I love you exactly the same way now that I know as I did thirty seconds ago when I didn't know any of this."

"Y-yeah?" Fred finally dares to open his eyes and he looks over at his boyfriend, seeing nothing but sincerity in his expression.

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, tightly squeezing his hand again.

"I love you so much, you know that?" Fred says softly.

"Well, I love you just as much," Tadashi answers, pecking him on the cheek.

Fred grins, only for the moment to be broken by his stomach suddenly growling.

"Sounds like someone's finally hungry, huh?" Tadashi chuckles.

"Yeah, sounds like it," Fred agrees with a laugh, feeling all of his relief over how well things had gone floating inside of him like a helium balloon.

"All right then, let's see if we can take care of that, huh?" Tadashi grins at him before taking the next exit.

The last dinner of their road trip at one of California's iconic In-and-Out Burgers was somewhat bittersweet for Fred. Part of him was glad that the endless hours of driving and being cooped up in the car were almost over, and, especially now that Tadashi knew the truth about his family and was fine with it, he was going to be glad to be home. But he was also going to miss this-the solitude, just him and Tadashi in their own little world, talking and laughing and just free to be whoever and whatever they wanted to be.

Tadashi seemed to sense this as he gently massaged his knee under the table."So, what are you most excited about doing once we're back in San Fransokyo?" he asks brightly, obviously trying to keep the conversation light.

"Well, sleeping in my own bed will be nice," Fred admits, only to want to slap himself-Tadashi wasn't going to be able to sleep in "his own bed" for a while yet, at least not until his family finally got settled up here. How insensitive could he be?

Still, Tadashi doesn't seem to mind too much as he answers, "Yeah, it will be nice being in an actual house again. I'm hoping maybe I'll have a bit of time to actually see the city-I was pretty caught up with my work during the school year, so I didn't have much time to really go out and explore, y'know?"

"Yeah!" Fred instantly jumps on this topic. "I'll have to show you all the cool places-I've lived in the city my entire life, so I have all the awesome 'insider' knowledge! Have you ever been to the zoo?"

"No, I haven't," Tadashi admits.

"I'll definitely have to take you there, then!" Fred says firmly before starting to list off all of the other places he was going to take his boyfriend, who amiably agreed to everything, even the craziest of ideas.

As soon as they were done eating, it was back on the road again. Fred took the final shift of driving, saying it was only fair since it was his turn and, besides which, he'd know where to go once they were actually in the city. The sky outside got darker and darker as they traveled, and even as Tadashi started nodding off in the passenger seat, Fred could feel his own heart beating like a kickdrum. Home. They were almost home.

It's a little past eleven when they finally pull into the driveway of his family's estate. Fred kills the engine and then gently nudges his boyfriend, who had been lightly snoring against the window.

"We're here," he says when he sees the confused look on the other man's face. He can't help but smile as he watches Tadashi's expression morphing from sleep-induced apathy to wide-eyed amazement.

"Whoa," the man whispers, sounding slightly awed.

"Yeah," Fred agrees with a warm smile, reaching over to wrap his arm around his boyfriend's waist. "Welcome home, Dashi."

"Should we bring our bags with us?" Tadashi asks as they climb out about a minute later, after sending a quick text to let Aunt Cass know that they'd arrived (they didn't want to accidentally forget like the night before.)

"Naw, it's all good," Fred reassures him. "It's weird, but it's, like, some breach of etiquette to carry your own stuff in around here, so just leave the doors unlocked and someone will be out to grab them and put them in our rooms." He quickly thinks to add, "And don't worry about the truck getting stolen or something, the security's really good on the grounds."

"I'm honestly not surprised," Tadashi admits quietly, and for a moment Fred was worried that he was freaking out on him, but then he suddenly smiles and links his arm through the fanboy's, saying, "Shall we?"

"We shall," Fred answers with a mild chuckle before starting to lead him towards the front door.

Heathcliff, the butler, greeted them at the door with his usual formality and, to Tadashi's credit, the elder Hamada just politely bowed back and said that he was very grateful for the fact that he was being allowed to stay here and for everyone's kindness. It seemed like the entire staff had stayed up to welcome back "Master Frederick", and Tadashi proceeded to charm the figurative pants off of everyone (although, if they hadn't been dating, from the looks a couple of the maids were giving his boyfriend Fred thought that maybe the pants charming wouldn't have been so figurative.)

Marie, the cook, pulled both boys into the kitchen for a steaming mug of cocoa as soon as she could get them away from everyone else. She was her usual warm, cheery self, if not a little more than she usually was for Tadashi's benefit, going on and on about how nice it was to meet the boyfriend Fred had been writing home about and what a lovely young gentleman at that. Fred could actually see some similarities between her and Aunt Cass now that he was back and he had the suspicion that Tadashi did too. Hopefully she'd be able to provide the man with at least some comfort until the rest of the family was able to join them out here.

Just as both boys were about to fall asleep at the table, a couple of maids come in to tell them that their rooms are ready. The two guys kind of half-stumble after them, much to the maids' amusement although they keep any laughter they might be experiencing to a minimum.

Fred is quite gratified to find that Tadashi had been give the suite of guest rooms next to his own. He hadn't been in them often-there hadn't been much of a reason for doing so-but a quick tour reminds him that either his mom or the interior decorator whom she had hired had designed the rooms with a forest theme in mind, everything in various shades of green or earthy brown, with little whimsical details like acorn-shaped drawer pulls. He might have paid better attention if he hadn't been so tired, but the truth was that he was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open.

Seeing this, Tadashi reassured him that he was perfectly fine, that he wouldn't have any problems settling in here and that the fanboy should go get some sleep in. Fred mildly protested but was too tired to put up much of a fight. Still, he made sure to show Tadashi which door was his and told him that if he needed anything, at any time, that he could just knock and he would be right there. Tadashi agreed to this and, after a bit more mother henning, Fred finally gave in to his tiredness and went to go get ready for bed.

The fanboy expected to fall asleep the instant his head hit the pillow. Funnily enough, though, he found himself lying awake long after that had happened. He squirmed around, tried pulling on more blankets, tossing off all of the blankets, fluffing his pillow, even counting sheep (albeit, in his case killer robotic sheep intent on world domination), but nothing was helping. Finally he settles for just lying there, willing for sleep to come but not managing to bring it any closer. Had the house always been this loud? Only, there wasn't really any noise (the bedrooms in the house were insulated to protect against most unnecessary sounds coming in) so it was actually the silence that was loud. It was almost as if something was missing, but he couldn't for the life of him think what.

Fred was just considering getting up and seeing if he could sneak down to the kitchen (hey, he might as well eat if he was going to be awake anyways, right?) when suddenly the heavy silence that had been pressing down on him like a smothering blanket was broken by the sound of tentative knocking on his door. Curious as to who it might be (and trying not to feel too hopeful), Fred throws off the covers and heads over to answer it.

"Hello?" He says, cracking the door and peering out into the hallway.

"Um, hi…" As he'd suspected, Tadashi was standing there, blushing slightly and shuffling his feet. "I-I didn't want to wake you up, but I just couldn't sleep, and I thought maybe…"

Fred grins, swinging the door open, and his boyfriend gratefully steps inside. Without a word, the two head for the bed, Fred climbing in first and Tadashi following him, curling up into the crook of his body so perfectly that it was like he'd been made to fit there all along.

"I-I'm sorry this isn't anything...Y'know, more sexy or exciting," Tadashi apologizes quietly once he's gotten settled, Fred's arms lightly wrapped around his waist. "I want that someday for us. I do. It's just-"

"Now isn't the right time," Fred finishes for him firmly. "I get it. I think, when it's time, we'll both know it and we'll both be ready. But until then, let's just enjoy this, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, smiling gratefully up at him.

Fred grins down at him, and he couldn't help but think that he wouldn't trade this moment right here for all the sex in the world.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! So, my real life Hiro is coming out to visit me this weekend and so I thought I'd post this chapter early since I don't know if I'd be on to post it until Tuesday night otherwise. Hope you guys enjoy!

0o0

Fred wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely _wonderful_. He'd had an amazing night's sleep since he was finally back in his own bed, plus he'd had Tadashi curled up against him the entire night. It hadn't been anything sexual or that he felt had really pushed any of their boundaries. It was just something that had happened and had been a really nice experience for both of them and Fred seriously hoped that it would happen again soon.

Yawning and stretching, Fred look over to the clock on the bedside table. Yikes, it was already after ten?! They must have been out of it! Still, his internal clock had been set to waking up at six every morning while working on the farm, and he decides that he should probably just enjoy the fact that his body had let him sleep in today because it wasn't going to let him do this again for a long while.

He looks over at his boyfriend, trying to decided whether or not to wake him up. Part of him said just to let him sleep because the other man was exhausted on every level, but the other part of him said that it wouldn't be good to let him sleep in too late and completely mess up his sleep schedule. Plus he just kind of wanted some company and so he starts gently shaking Tadashi's shoulder.

"Dashi. Dashi, wake up," he says in a piercing whisper.

"What?" Tadashi mumbles, rolling away from him and burying his face in the sheets.

"Dashi, c'mon, it's almost eleven, you need to get up," Fred say coaxingly.

"I don't wanna get up yet, I'm still tired," Tadashi grumbles.

"All right, fine, you don't have to get up," Fred sighs-given everything Tadashi had been through in the last couple of days, he did deserve a little bit of spoiling. "Tell you what-I'll go get us some breakfast and we can eat it in here, okay?"

"'Kay," Tadashi agrees, and Fred had the distinct feeling that he was agreeing just to get him to stop bugging him and let him go back to sleep. Oh well, not much he could do about that and it wasn't like he'd done this sort of thing to Heathcliff before. Huh. Must be karma or something.

"Ah, good morning, Fred!" Marie smiles as she sees the man walking into the kitchen. She was pretty much the only one in the entire household who would actually call him that. With his parents, it was always "Frederick", and to all the servants and the rest of the staff, it was "Master Frederick". Marie, though, bless her motherly soul, refused to use formal titles (she swore that if she ever met the president she would call him by his first name), and her cooking was so good that no one could hold it against her. Fred, for his part, was extremely grateful for it, and he never failed to give her the biggest smile he could manage to thank her.

"'Morning, Marie," he answers with a wave.

"I thought you must have been tired, the way you two were practically dropping last night, but heavens, you two certainly did sleep in late," Marie says cheerfully, not even bothering to stop dicing the potatoes she was working on-Fred swore she must have magic of some sort given she could be doing something as dicey as using a torch on a creme brulee and still hold a conversation without missing a beat.

"Yeah, that wasn't intentional, but we had been driving for two days," the fanboy answers, giving her an embarrassed smile. "And the first day of them was pretty rough, especially on Tadashi."

"Yes, the poor lamb." Marie's expression quickly changed to a mixture of sadness and outrage. "Still can't believe-run out of his own home! What is this world coming to?"

"Well, fortunately at least his family was supportive," Fred answers, not sure how much of the story she had heard.

"That's good, at least," Marie says, her fierce look softening slightly even as she stops attacking the potatoes like they'd mortally offended her.

"They're planning to move out here with him," Fred adds before something strikes him. "Oh, which reminds me, I need to get calling Dad, I promised I'd see if he could maybe help Tadashi's aunt find a place where she could start up a cafe."

"A cafe? Really?" Marie's interest looks piqued. "Does she have one down there?"

"Well, no," Fred admits. "But she was an amazing cook-not as good as you, of course!" he adds loyally. "But still really good, and she said she'd like to give it a try since it's kind of hard to run a farm in the middle of SF."

"Well, that's not always an easy business, but if she's as resilient as her nephew, I think she'll do just fine," Marie says with a firm nod. "And I wouldn't worry about your father helping her find a place-he may not be home near as much as he should for you, Fred dear, but he is a good man and I know he'll want to help her out if he can."

"That's what I'm counting on," Fred agrees. He starts reaching for his phone-he might as well get the ball rolling-but when she sees what he's doing, Marie gently swats his hand.

"Plenty of time to do that _after_ you've gotten some food into you-into both of you," she says firmly, heading over to the oven and pulling out two covered plates.

"Wow, you kept breakfast warm for us? Thank you!" Fred gives her a grateful smile.

"'Course I did! Wasn't about to let either of you go hungry on your first day home, even if you were being little lie-a-beds," she replies, looking affronted that he'd think she would.

"You're the best, Marie," Fred tells her, pecking her on the cheek before adding, "Is it okay if I take this back to my room? Tadashi's still kind of out of it."

It wasn't until he saw Marie's eyebrows raising and a small smile twitching at the corners of her lips that he realized with slight horror what he just sort of admitted. Still, fortunately the cook didn't say anything, merely replying, "That will be just fine, dear. I'll plan on serving lunch a little late to account for your having slept in, all right? Say, one o'clock?"

"That would be perfect," Fred answers, still feeling a slight blush crossing his cheeks as he grabs the plates.

"Any plans for what you're doing today?" Marie asks as he starts to head for the door.

"Um… Honestly, no, I hadn't thought that far ahead," Fred admits, turning back to look at her. "Mainly I've just been focusing on getting here in one piece, y'know?" Knowing that she didn't ask questions like that without a good reason, he adds, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, it might be a good idea to give that boyfriend of yours a tour of the place-help him learn where everything is so that he doesn't feel so lost and maybe help him settle in a little bit. You know, make it feel more like home for him."

"That is an excellent idea!" Fred grins at her. "I'll definitely do that, thanks!"

"After you've made sure that he's eaten," Marie adds firmly.

"Yes, definitely, that is my first priority," Fred agrees before she shoos him back out into the hallway.

When he arrives back at his room, he knocks on the door as best he can considering his hands were full with the two plates. It was weird knocking to go into his own room, but given he didn't want to startle his boyfriend in whatever state of wakefulness he was, he figures it's probably a good idea.

"Come in!" Tadashi calls.

"All right!" Fred nudges the door open with his foot before walking in. Tadashi was still in the bed, looking slightly dazed still, and he looked so cute just lying there that it's all Fred can do not to ditch the plates and go kiss him senseless. Instead, though, he forces himself to take slow, measured steps across the room until he reaches his boyfriend.

"Where did you go?" Tadashi asks, yawning and finally sitting up.

"Got us some breakfast," Fred answers with a warm smile as he sits down next to him-wow, the other man must have been out of it if he didn't remember their earlier conversation.

"Oh, okay…" Tadashi lets out another yawn before practically collapsing onto him, nuzzling sleepily into his chest.

All right, not good, not good! As much as Fred as enjoying this, the last thing he needed was the awkwardness of a boner on his first morning with Tadashi in the house. He doesn't quite jerk away, but he does try to create some distance by reaching for the plates he'd left on the end of the bed. "C'mon, you need to wake up and start eating your breakfast, okay?"

"'Kay…" Tadashi mumbles, still not looking fully awake but accepting the food. He removes the lid to reveal eggs and bacon with potatoes on the side (leave it to Marie to go all out, even for breakfast), but he just kind of stares down at it with a slightly confused look on his face as if his brain wasn't processing what he was seeing.

"C'mon, either you start eating or I'll have to feed it to you," Fred tells him, playfully nudging him.

Tadashi lets out a sleepy grumble but, instead of taking the bait, he pushes his fork into the fanboy's hand.

"Oh, okay-so I guess I am feeding you?" Fred says, blinking in surprise-that definitely hadn't been what he'd going for here. But when his boyfriend just stares back at him, as if challenging him, the fanboy realizes that he's going to actually have to do this. Well, there was a first time for everything, so he just shrugs and scoops a bite of egg onto the fork and directs it towards Tadashi's mouth. The other man compliantly opens, biting down once the food is inside his mouth and letting out a happy hum as it reaches his taste buds. And that's how Fred ended up feeding his boyfriend his first real meal in the mansion. By the end of it, Tadashi was much more awake and they turned it into a sort of a game, Tadashi stealing Fred's fork and insisting on feeding him as well, and while it got a bit messy it was a lot of fun and something the fanboy almost hoped would become a tradition for them.

"So," Tadashi says as Fred stacks the dirty dishes, looking around with curiosity. "This is your room, huh?"

"Yep!" Fred agrees, flushing slightly-he was pretty proud of it, but it was also his little nerd haven and he was kind of sensitive about what others thought of it, especially if the person was someone as important to him as Tadashi.

"I like it," Tadashi says with a warm smile, taking around the small enclosed space.

"Well, this isn't all of it," Fred admits.

"It's not?" Tadashi asks in surprise.

"There's also the display room-that's kind of where I keep my library and the rest of my nerd collection," Fred answers, feeling a little bit embarrassed-apparently Tadashi had missed that when walking through it in the dark last night, and hopefully his boyfriend wouldn't consider his obsession too weird. They'd talked a lot over the summer and seemed to have a lot of shared interests, but it was one thing to talk about it and another for Tadashi to actually see just how much of a "freak" he kind of was about all this stuff.

"Can I see?" Tadashi asks, sounding a bit eager.

"Sure, if you want to," Fred agrees, getting up off of the bed and motioning for the other man to follow him through the side door.

"Whoa…" Tadashi lets out a tiny gasp as his boyfriend flips on the lights.

"Yeah… Do you like it?" Fred asks, nervously shuffling his feet.

"Like it?" Tadashi turns to look at him and grins. "It's awesome!"

"Really?" Fred feels a huge weight of relief lifting off of his chest.

"Totally!" Tadashi answers "C-can I take a look around?"

"Absolutely!" Fred agrees. "Seriously, dude- _mi casa es su casa_ , in every sense of the phrase. As long as you need it, this is your home now, so you're welcome to go pretty much wherever you want whenever you want without having to ask. Well, y'know, as long as it's not someone else's bedroom, but that's just kind of a given. My room is totally open access to you, though, day or night!"

"Thank you…" Tadashi gives him a grateful smile, looking slightly emotional as he pulls him into a tight hug.

"Anything for you," Fred replies softly, hugging him back.

Eventually Tadashi goes back to exploring the room, grinning slightly when he sees the portrait of Fred-or, a character that resembled Fred in only the vaguest sense of the word on the wall.

"Nice," he chuckles.

"Oh my gosh, please forget you ever saw that," Fred groans, shaking his head.

"What? It's kind of cool!" Tadashi tells him. "Is it supposed to be you as a superhero or a warlord or something?"

" _Supposed_ to be," Fred deadpans. "It was a gift from my dad, if you can believe it. He knows how much I love Megazod comics, so he had it commissioned by one of my favorite artists from the company. Unfortunately, he had them base it off of some ridiculous drawing I did as a kid-I can't believe he actually hung onto it-so it came out like that. I keep it up because it's freaking art by my favorite artist and because it was a gift from my dad, but otherwise it would be buried waaaay back in my closet."

"Well, it's the thought that counts, right?" Tadashi says.

"Right," Fred agrees, glad that at least his boyfriend wasn't going to make fun of him for it.

"So, if you could choose, what kind of superhero would you be?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"Oh, I'd definitely want to be able to turn into a fire breathing lizard at will!" Fred answers eagerly. He'd spent a lot-and by a lot he meant countless hours-daydreaming about and carefully planning his superhero alter-ego.

"That's pretty cool," Tadashi says, nodding thoughtfully. "Of course I think you're cuter as a man, but I can see where the other would have its advantages if you were fighting villains!"

"Yeah," Fred agrees. "I'm definitely all about the kaiju! But how about you?"

"Me?" Tadashi looks slightly caught off guard by the question. "I honestly haven't thought about it that much…"

"How can you not have?" Fred gasps, pretending to be shocked, although in truth he actually was slightly surprised. He couldn't imagine how someone could go through life without having given considerable thought to what he considered one of the most important questions a person could ask themselves.

"Well…" Tadashi seems to be considering it. "I suppose the ability to heal people would be good…"

Fred can't help but grin at that, it was just such a Tadashi-ish answer-always looking out for other people. Still, it wasn't quite a satisfactory answer for the fanboy. "But that wouldn't defend you in a fight," he presses.

"All right, um… I dunno, super strength or flying?"

"Too typical." Fred shakes his head. "You deserve something much, much cooler. Let's see… Healing… Could be magic-involved, so you could be a mage or something… OH!" His eyes light up eagerly as the answer comes to him. "Technomancer!"

"A what now?" Tadashi's nose wrinkles up in confusion.

"A technomancer!" Fred answers eagerly. "You're really good with robots and technology a lot, right?"

"Well, yeah, at least for my classes" Tadashi agrees. "I'm still getting the hang of some of it, but I do love work with robotics and coding."

"Well, a technomancer is someone who has magic that allows them to connect with technological devices and control them and stuff! How perfect is that for you?" Fred cries.

"...That actually does sound pretty awesome," Tadashi agrees. "I mean, if I could do that-wow, with all of the technology in the world, especially here in the city, the possibilities would be almost endless!"

"See, what did I tell you? You're totally a technomancer!" Fred tells him with a grin.

"All right, agreed." Tadashi grins back at him.

"Sick!" Fred can't help but feel slightly giddy but also satisfied that they'd solved that.

"'Sick'?" Tadashi lets out a low chuckle. "You've been spending too much time with Hiro, you're starting to sound like him!"

"Is that a bad thing?" Fred teases back even though he feels slightly embarrassed.

"No," Tadashi answers with a smile, only for his expression to darken slightly after a moment.

"Hey, you okay?" Fred asks softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's just…" This time,Tadashi's voice comes out quiet and broken, as if he was trying not to sound too emotional but not quite succeeding. "I know I should be used to being away from my family-I spent all last year at college, only going home for Christmas because we couldn't afford more than that. But I was supposed to have at least another month with them before coming back here. And I know I sound completely ungrateful, considering how things could have gone much worse and you've been so awesome, taking care of me and all…"

"It's still hard to be away from them, though," Fred finishes for his boyfriend. Honestly, the fanboy had never been really close to his parents, but that didn't mean he didn't miss them when they were away. For someone who was as close to their family as Tadashi was, he could only imagine how rough it must be.

"C'mere." The fanboy wraps his arms tightly around his boyfriend. Tadashi doesn't protest, just holding him back and looking like he was fighting down tears.

"I know this hasn't been easy. You've been through more than anyone should ever have had to go through in the last two days, and you have been so, so strong through all of this. But right now if you need to be sad or angry or anything else, this is a safe place for you to do that, okay? I won't judge, and I won't tell anyone unless you want me to, so don't be afraid to let it all out."

Tadashi nods silently before his body convulses and he lets out a tiny sob.

"There we go." Fred gently rubs his back as his boyfriend starts to openly cry. He carefully maneuvers them over to the couch, gently pulling Tadashi down onto the seats and laying his head in his lap, beginning to gently stroke his hair. "You're okay. You're going to be okay," he tells him softly, over and over again until the other man finally either doesn't need to cry anymore or just runs out of tears.

"Here." Fortunately for the fanboy, as disorganized as he was, the maids did a good job of keeping every room of the house well-stocked, so there's an actual tissue box on the end table and he hands it to his boyfriend.

"Thanks." Tadashi's voice comes out slightly stuffy from having been crying, and he uses a lot of kleenex to blow his nose, but once he's done he looks and sounds like he's feeling a lot better.

"The healing power of a good cry," Fred says sagely as he discreetly brushes the used tissues into the wastebasket, quoting something that Marie liked to say whenever he had a miniature meltdown in front of her (which wasn't often, or at least not as often as when he'd been a kid, but he had definitely been taught by her the importance of releasing emotions instead of keeping them buried inside.)

"All the guys in my town were taught since they were kids that they weren't allowed to cry," Tadashi admits before adding with a slight smile, "Thank God for Aunt Cass saying that was bull crap and telling us that we could cry if we damn well wanted to."

"In those exact words?" Fred asks playfully.

"In those exact words," Tadashi agrees with a slight smile before nuzzling into him with a slight sigh. "This feels good…" he admits quietly.

"We can stay here for as long as you want," Fred tells him, gently stroking his cheek.

"Maybe…" Tadashi answers, squirming slightly. By now the fanboy could recognize that movement.

"You want to get up?"

"Well, I mean, if you want to stay here-"

"Nope, it's whatever you want to do."

"What did I do to deserve a boyfriend like you?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Tadashi smiles and pulls Fred into a warm kiss, which the fanboy happily returns.

"So," the elder Hamada says when he finally breaks away, "what are the plans for today? I mean, it's fine if there aren't any! I just didn't know if there was anything you wanted or needed to do…"

"Well, I figured we'd keep it pretty low-key today since you're still settling in," Fred answers. "Marie suggested I give you a tour of the house so that you'd know where everything was, but I dunno, if you're not up for that or you think it would be too boring-"

"No, it sounds like a good plan," Tadashi answers with a warm smile.

"Cool!" Fred smiles. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I-Oh, shit." Suddenly an expression of slight panic crosses the other man's face.

"What is it?" Fred asks, concerned.

"I'm so sorry, I don't even know why this came into my mind out of the blue except maybe since we were talking about me living here, but I just remembered something," Tadashi explains. "I stayed in a dorm last year and I was supposed to be in one this year too, but since I'm living with you I really don't need to do that and my family could really use the money to help with the move if it doesn't have to be used to pay for that. I know we can't get all of it back, but if it could even help out a little bit..."

"Hey, if you need to take care of that, then you go ahead and do it!" Fred says firmly.

"You sure you don't mind?" Tadashi asks.

"Absolutely not!" Fred answers. "Actually, I wanted to call my dad, see if he could get looking for a space for your aunt to start her cafe, so why don't I call him while you start looking into that so that way we don't have to worry about this later, okay? Then we can just relax and not have to think about any of that serious stuff."

"O-okay," Tadashi agrees, beginning to pull out his phone, presumably to start looking up the stuff on how to cancel his dorm contract.

Fred, for his part, decides that making the call in here might be a little too distracting and so he heads into the other part of his room before pulling up his dad on speed dial. He honestly wasn't sure if his father would pick up or not, but, by some miracle, on the fifth ring he does.

"Hello?"

For a moment, Fred's breath catches-wow, how sad was it that he saw his dad so little that he got choked up just by hearing his voice? Still, determined not to focus on that and end up crying over something that seemed so ridiculous, he answers, "U-um, hey dad! It's me, Fred!" Well, duh, who else would be calling him and calling him "dad"?  
"Well, hello, Frederick!" Fred winces at the use of his full name, but decides not to correct him. "It's good to hear from you!"

"Good to hear you too, Dad," Fred answers honestly. Still feeling a bit nervous about just bringing up his reason for calling right off the bat, he asks, "So, um, where are you right now?"

"Family island-your mother and I are taking a short break before heading to Tokyo for a meeting with one of my partners," his dad answers.

"Sounds great," Fred says, kind of wishing that he could be there too. His parents hardly ever took him anywhere, which royally sucked-what was the point in having a family with homes all over the world if he never got to travel anywhere? And yes, he knew he could be the originator for the hashtag #richboyproblems, but seriously! Did his family think he was still a disruptive toddler that would interrupt their business meetings or do something completely idiotic if they brought him with? He just wanted a chance to see a little bit of the world outside of his home town, to soak in the culture and get valuable experiences that he'd need as a writer-was that so wrong?

"So, how are things going at the farm?" The question coming from his dad was enough to startle Fred out of his thoughts.

"Oh, great!" he answers automatically, only to have to sigh and correct himself, "Well… Not so great, actually."

"Really?" His father didn't sound surprised. "Things a bit much for you down there?"

"No!" Fred couldn't help but feel slightly offended by the fact that his dad thought that he was complaining about the work being too hard and wanting to give up. "I-Some stuff happened. Some really, really messed up stuff."

This time, Fred's dad sounded honestly concerned. "Is everything alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine!" Fred hurries to reassure him, glad to get something more than just patronizing out of his dad for once. "I-It's actually Tadashi who's been through a bunch of garbage."

"Tadashi?" His dad sounds momentarily confused before saying, "Isn't he Tom's oldest boy?"

Tom. Fred didn't really know the names of Hiro and Tadashi's parents, but it sounded right so he agrees.

"From what I've heard from his aunt over the years, he sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders. What sort of trouble did he get into?" Fred's dad asks.

"It wasn't his fault!" Fred protests. "Just a lot of stupid backwards-minded people in his town and some even stupider old town laws from back in the 1800s or something!"

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that, son, I'm feeling a bit lost here."

"I-He's gay, dad. Like me. And people there couldn't accept that and they were threatening to throw him-to throw _us_ in jail because we… Because we were dating."

For a moment there's silence on the other end, and Fred holds his breath. He knew that his parents hadn't said much over the years about his own sexuality. He'd never had an official "coming out of the closet", but he'd never made a secret of it and his parents had never given him any trouble about it except his mom occasionally sighing around the holidays that it would be nice if he had a girlfriend to bring to family events so that his relatives wouldn't think that they were raising him to be a hermit. (Hey, what was wrong with being a hermit if he wanted to?!) Until Tadashi, he'd never officially had a boyfriend-hadn't even mentioned it when he'd had a crush on a guy before. Now here he was, openly proclaiming the fact that he was not only the fact gay but that he was with another guy. And as much as he'd told Tadashi that his parents really wouldn't care, he couldn't help but feel a twisting in his gut that maybe they'd actually disown him for it and he would end up being as equally homeless as Tadashi was at the moment.

Eventually, his father's voice comes back on the line, soft and slightly strained. "Are you both alright?" he asks, sounding more concerned for his well being than Fred could ever remember before except maybe the time he'd broken his arm falling off the stair railing trying to slide all the way down it from the second floor.

"Yeah, we're fine," Fred answers, still slightly cautious. "I-I hope you don't mind, but I brought him back here because he really didn't have anywhere else to go…"

"I'm glad you did." The fanboy couldn't have been more shocked by his father's answer, and even more shocked as he continued, "To think that there's a town where something like that could still happen-disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful! I have half a mind to go down there myself and give them what-for, thinking they could put my son and his boyfriend in jail just for being in love!"

Fred feels like his throat is clogging up at this. Wow. He usually didn't like it when his dad went off on some rampage about things, but the fact that he was actually doing it because he cared about him-because he wanted to protect him-it felt good. Really, really good.

Finally, he manages to get out, "No, Dad, it's fine. Tadashi's here with me and we're both safe and there's nothing those jerks can do to us anymore."

"Still…" He can hear the frustration in his father's voice, but his old man was good at controlling his emotions when he needed to-that's one of the reasons he was such a successful business man. The next time his dad speaks, his tone is much calmer as he asks, "How did Tadashi's family take it?"

"Surprisingly well," Fred admits. "They stood up for him like crazy, and now they're actually planning to move out here to get away from all of that. Which is actually why I'm calling you."

"Indeed?" His father sounded part relieved, part curious now.

"Yeah," Fred agrees. "Ms. Hamada-you know, Tadashi's aunt? She's planning to try to open a cafe out here, but she hasn't really done anything outside of running the farm, so I know she's going to need some help finding a place and maybe figuring out how to get it up and running-"

"Say no more." Fred's dad's voice is all business now. "I'm more than happy to help, both as an old friend of their family and as the father of the young man her nephew is dating."

"Really?" Fred can't help but feel relieved.

"Of course. I'll get contacting her right away."

"You're amazing, Dad," Fred says, and he means every word of it.

"Well, I appreciate that," his father chuckles before saying, "I'm very proud of you, Fred."

"W-why?" Fred can't help but feel himself blushing slightly.

"Because you sound like you've been very strong through this whole ordeal, and you took care of the person you loved even when things were rough," his father answers. "Lesser men would have run off at the first sign of danger, but you stood by Tadashi through it all."

"I-I just did what I had to do," Fred replies, quoting something his father often said.

"You really love him, don't you?" Fred can almost hear the smile in his dad's voice even though he can't see it.

"I do," Fred agrees.

He hears a thoughtful hum on the other end of the line and then his father says, "Well, I probably need to get contacting Ms. Hamada before I have to leave out again-make sure that she's doing alright and let her know that I'm going to do everything in my power to make it a smooth transition for them. But I'll definitely check in with you when I can and I'll try to be home as soon as I'm able-I want to get a chance to meet my potential future son-in-law."

"Dad!" Fred blushes at that, but he can't help but smile slightly as he hears his father's loving laugh from the other end.

"I'll talk to you soon, all right son?"

"All right," Fred agrees. He considers just saying goodbye, like he normally does on calls like this, but he has the sudden impulse to say, "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Fred."

 _Fred_. His dad had actually called him Fred for once. The fanboy can't help but smile as he presses his phone to his chest. Maybe, just maybe, this was the start of something new for both of them.

"Everything going okay?" he asks when he walks in to check on Tadashi a minute later.

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, letting out a small sigh. "I got the forms turned in, so the request should process in the next few days, but because it's so late, we're going to lose about 30% of the deposit. I guess it could be worse, though…"

"Man, sorry about that…" Fred winces. "But, if it makes you feel any better, my dad is totally on board with helping your aunt find a place for her cafe-he's actually calling her right now!"

"Really?" Tadashi's eyes light up with relief.

"Totally!" Fred agrees. "Plus he's completely on board with us dating-heck, he says he's going to try to get home as soon as he can so he can meet you. I mean, knowing his schedule, it'll still be another week or two before that happens, but it's a start."

"I-I don't know what to say," Tadashi admits in a quiet voice. "Everything's been happening so fast… And I feel like my entire world should have fallen to pieces by now, but instead somehow everything is miraculously coming together even though for no logical reason it should be."

"You know what I think that means?" Fred says, gently bumping against him as he sits down next to him.

"No, what?" Tadashi answers, looking to him as if hoping that he had the answers that were currently evading him.

"I think it's a sign that you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing right now," Fred replies. "That God's taking care of you because you're doing the right thing."

"I hadn't thought about it like that…" Tadashi admits.

"Well, you believe it and if you ever start thinking about the stuff that asinine pastor said to you, you keep reminding yourself of that!" Fred tells him firmly. "Plus know that you have a whole bunch of people who love and support you no matter what!"

"Thank you." Tadashi pulls him into a tight hug.

"You're welcome," Fred answers, hugging him right back.

"So," Tadashi says when the finally break apart again, "I think you said something about a tour?"

"Yeah, if you're ready for it!" Fred agrees.

"I think I am," Tadashi answers, smiling over at him.

"Great!" Fred stands up and grabs his hand, pulling his boyfriend up with him. "Then let's get started!"

"We'll start in the main entryway," the fanboy says a little while later as he and Tadashi exit the hallway where the family's and guest chambers were. "It's kind of the central hub to everything else in the mansion."

"Wow… It's even cooler than I remember from last night," Tadashi says as he looks around in awe, his voice adorably hushed like he was in a museum or some holy place where you weren't allowed to speak above a whisper.

"You know how to get to my room and yours from here now-you don't really need to worry about any of the other rooms in there, they're mainly just guest bedrooms except my parents' room, and that's all the way at the end of the hallway."  
"Got it." Tadashi nods, a look on his concentration on his face as if he was carefully memorizing everything-which, Fred realized, he probably was.

"All right-so, to the right is the hallway with sitting room, where my parents entertain small parties of guests," the fanboy continues, leading Tadashi into the opposite hallway gesturing to a small room through a pair of glass folding doors. "And through those doors-" He points to a set of very impressive and heavily engraved oak doors, "is the ballroom."

"You guys have a ballroom?" Tadashi gasps in disbelief.

"Just a small one, but yeah-my parents host a lot of events, so it's kind of mandatory," Fred admits with an embarrassed smile. "It also doubles as the dining room, which makes it a little more practical, although I only eat in there if my parents are home. It's a little lonely eating in a big room all by myself, y'know?"

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees before gesturing to the doors and asking, "Um, can I…?"

"Sure," Fred agrees with a nod. "Be my guest!"

Tadashi lets out a tiny giggle at that.

"What?" Fred quirks an eyebrow.

"Sorry, that just sounded like a Disney reference," Tadashi explains.

"Would you believe me if I told you, at my mom's insistence, this room is actually modeled after the ballroom from _Beauty and the Beast_?"

"You're pulling my leg!" Tadashi's eyes go wide.

"See for yourself!" Fred pull the door open, and Tadashi eagerly hurries inside, only to pause just inside the door, letting out a loud gasp. "Wow…" he breathes before squeaking happily, "This is so cool!"

"Yeah?"

"Totally!" Tadashi agrees.

Fred can't help but grin at his reaction. So far, despite his concerns, the other man didn't seem disgusted by his family's wealth or act like he felt like he needed to treat him any differently because of it. He was pretty much acting like a kid visiting DisneyLand for the first time-excited but just willing to go with the "magic" of the place. Heck, Tadashi might be convinced that he was in the middle of a Disney movie right now, and, given their surroundings, Fred couldn't blame him. Hm… That actually gave him an idea!

Being an obsessive Disney fan, Fred had the soundtracks from almost all of their movies on his phone. And, lucky for him, the one he was looking for was right near the top. His phone had a pretty loud speaker, and, given the way the room was set up, it had awesome acoustics, so when he starts playing the desired song, it quickly fills the space.

"Fred, what-?" Tadashi turns back to look at him in surprise, only to gasp quietly when he sees his boyfriend bowing and offering him his arm.

"Shall we?" Fred asks, grinning.

"U-um… All right," Tadashi agrees, nodding and blushing a pleased pink as Fred leads him out onto the dance floor as the title song of _Beauty and the Beast_ starts playing. It took them a moment to figure out the positioning, given both had been taught dancing from the leading position, but Fred manages to get Tadashi's hands into the right places and soon they're whirling around the dance floor as the music plays in the background.

"Are you happy?" Fred finds himself asking as the song slows down and Tadashi rests his head against his chest, letting out a contented sigh.

"Very," Tadashi agrees, smiling up at him. "I'm with you. How could I not be?"

That was too adorable for words, and Fred finds himself pulling his boyfriend into a deep, passionate kiss, which Tadashi happily returns.

"All right-so, any more requests?" Fred asks when they finally break apart.

"Well... " Tadashi blushes slightly. "I've always loved that song "I See the Light" from _Tangled_ …"

"On it!" Fred grins, heading over to find the song on his phone.

They spend the next hour dancing to one Disney song after another, completely wrapped up in their own little world and in each other. It didn't matter that they were two guys still dressed in the clothes they'd slept in the night before. This, right here, was the fairytale that Fred knew he wanted to be in for the rest of his life, and no one and nothing could ever change that.

They didn't even realize that they had company until "Touch the Sky" from _Brave_ was winding down and a familiar voice says, "Well, I thought I heard someone in here!"

"M-Marie! Hey!" Fred felt slightly embarrassed to have been caught in here, but his face was too flushed from all the dancing for the blush to be noticeable and, besides, he'd been having a great time with his boyfriend so he decided that there was really nothing to be embarrassed about.

"U-um, hi!" Tadashi waves shyly to the cook, who was smiling warmly at them.

"Does my heart good to see two young people in love like you two," she says in her rich, cosy voice before saying, "Well, I was just coming to look for you two to let you know that lunch was ready. But if you want to keep going for a little bit, I can certainly keep it warm for you!"

"No, it would probably be a good idea to take a break," Fred admits, looking over to his boyfriend. "You ready for some food?"

"Sure," Tadashi agrees, still looking like he was blushing slightly but grinning as the fanboy offers him his arm again.

"This is the kitchen," Fred explains as the leave the ballroom and cross to the room on the other side of the hallway. "It's located here for obvious reasons. It's where I usually eat when my parents aren't home-like I said earlier, it's a lot less lonely than doing it in the dining room-so it's where you'll be eating too, if that's okay with you."

"Totally," Tadashi agrees. "You know we eat in the kitchen all the time at home-well, y'know, at the farm…" His face falls momentarily at the mention of the house he'd had to leave behind-the only home he'd really ever know-but he quickly manages to get the smile back onto his face.

"It's also where you'll find me most of the time," Marie says, not missing his slight dip in mood and reaching over to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "So if you need anything or just want somebody to talk to, you just come right on in here and I'll have a nice cup of tea and some sort of pastry ready for you, all right?"

"Thank you." Tadashi flashes her a grateful look.

"Of course, dear." Marie pats his arm before heading over to the stove. "I hope you like potato soup!"

"I love it!" Tadashi answers.

Fred couldn't tell if his boyfriend was just being polite or if he really did love the dish (he just looked so darn genuine about everything he said, it was hard to tell the difference sometimes!) but when Marie brings two steaming bowls topped with freshly grated cheese, bacon bits, and chives to the table, he can't help but think that anyone would have to be crazy not to love it.

The cook makes small talk with them while they eat, gently plying Tadashi with questions-she was good at that, getting people to eat while simultaneously opening up to her. Maybe it was her friendly, welcoming aura, or maybe it was her cooking, but Fred swore that she could get even the most hardened spy to spill their secrets to her if she got them into her kitchen.

After lunch, Fred showed Tadashi the upstairs. To the left, there was a hallway that was mainly used by his parents-his father's offices that he used when he worked from home, his mother's office where she planned events and practically ruled the upper-class social circles of San Fransokyo, a library that was mostly full of boring adult books and novels, and a small exercise room. They didn't spend much time there-to Fred it was incredibly boring and of little real use to him, and while Tadashi was politely interested, he could tell that he felt much the same way. To the right, however, was probably Fred's favorite room out of the whole house outside of his own and the kitchen. Of course there was the game room in the hallway, which had a billiards table, darts, as well as a well stocked board game cabinet with all of the classics-it was nice, but really meant more for adult entertainment than for teenagers. A good portion of the rest of the corridor was devoted to rooms for the staff that actually lived on the grounds, like Marie and Heathcliff. But at the very end of the hall was the one that Fred knew Tadashi would love as much as he did.

"I-is this a movie theater? Inside of a _house_?" Tadashi cries in disbelief as he pulls open the door.

"Yep!" Fred agrees. "My parents are surprisingly film buffs, so this was kind of a 'must' for them. We have an insanely well stocked movie library, and you're definitely freed to use any of this whenever you want!"

"Wow…" Tadashi still seems slightly overwhelmed. "T-thank you!"

"Of course!" Fred wraps his arm around his waist and pecks him on the cheek. "This is your home now too-I want you to feel as comfortable as possible here!"

Tadashi gives him a grateful smile, nuzzling into him before reaching out to gingerly touch one of the velvet covered seats. "We didn't really get to go to the theater much at home," he says softly. "It was a long drive to the nearest city where one was, so mainly we just had the little TV at home…"

"Want me to show you how everything works?" Fred offers.

"That would be great," Tadashi agrees, looking eager to learn-well, of course he was. Fred had declared him a technomancer that morning, and anything involving technology was right up his alley.

Soon enough Tadashi is a pro at running all of the players and the screen (somehow he managed to keep all of the remotes and settings straight right off the bat, even though it had taken Fred a good month to figure it all out when his parents had finally thought he was old enough to be trusted to actually do it on his own!)

"Since we already have everything on, do you want to watch anything?" he asks as Tadashi neatly lines all of the remotes back up in a row (either he was just a very neat person, which Fred kind of doubted from the bit of his room he'd seen back at the farm, or he was mildly ocd-well, as long as it didn't seem to be hurting him, it was actually kind of cute.)

"Sure!" Tadashi agrees with a slight smile. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Fred considers this. "Any requests?"

"Not off the top of my head," Tadashi answers. "Maybe something I haven't seen before but you think I should watch?"

Fred honestly wasn't sure what Tadashi had or hadn't seen in the past, so that wasn't exactly very helpful, but then the perfect solution hits him and he grins. "How would you feel about watching the first Harry Potter movie?"

The way Tadashi's whole face lit up was more than enough of an answer for him.

"I can't believe how little they are!" Tadashi says in a happy coo a little later on as they're watching the film, referring to the actors portraying Harry and the rest of the main cast.

"Well, they are supposed to be eleven," Fred points out but still finding his boyfriend's reaction adorable.

"I know, I know," Tadashi agrees. "But that doesn't change the fact that they're still adorable!"

"Fair enough," Fred chuckles before looking over at him thoughtfully. "You really like kids, don't you?" he notes, more of a statement than a question. He hadn't really gotten to see his boyfriend spending a lot of time with children over the summer, but every Sunday, before and after church, the kids had absolutely swarmed him, shouting for "Mr. Tadashi" to come play with them on the little rusted playground out back, and he'd always obliged.

"Definitely!" Tadashi agrees with a happy sigh. "They're the best-so sweet and innocent. They don't even know what hate or prejudice is until they sadly learn from adults… Why can't they just stay like that forever? Why do people have to try to ruin their joy when they start to grow up?"

"I don't know," Fred answers, shaking his head. "But it's people like you who do an awesome job of making sure that they get to keep that for as long as possible," he adds, remembering all of the silly games of pretend his boyfriend had gotten the kids into, sometimes managing to pull Fred and even Hiro into them. In those moments was when the fanboy had seen Tadashi at his happiest outside of time spent with his family or with Fred. It was like he just had this unending spring of love when it came to children which the little ones could smell on him like chocolate chips cookies or something equally as magnetizing, and it made them naturally cluster to him whenever he was within range.

"I'd like to have kids someday," Tadashi says softly, almost in a whisper.

For a moment, Fred smiles at that. He could easily imagine Tadashi as a dad, surrounded by three or even five children all clamoring for his attention and all of them being equally loved. But then there's a slight twisting in the fanboy's gut. As much as he might have wanted to, there was no way he could ever give that to his boyfriend. It just wasn't biologically possible. He feels his mood dropping like a rock. If that's what it meant for Tadashi to be happy…

"I'd have to adopt, of course," Tadashi suddenly continues, as if reading his boyfriend's thoughts. "I mean, I guess there's always the surrogate option, but I'd really like to give a home to kids who lost their parents like Hiro and I did. I know most of them aren't as lucky as we were, ending up in a home with someone as amazing as Aunt Cass. I figure, if I'm able to, why shouldn't I try to make a difference for at least a few of them?"

"You are amazing," Fred says after staring at him in almost awe for a minute.

"Not really…" Tadashi blushes. "I mean, it's just something I've wanted to do, ever since I was old enough to understand what Aunt Cass was doing for me and Hiro."

"You're still amazing," Fred declares firmly. "And you're going to be an amazing dad!"

"You are too," Tadashi answers softly before blushing and quickly adding, "I-I mean, if you ever… If you even wanted…"

Fred reaches over and takes his boyfriend's hands in his own. "With you? Yes. I'd love to adopt kids with you someday."

Tadashi grins, biting his lip and looking down at the floor before happily nuzzling into the fanboy. "I love you," he says softly.

"I love you too," Fred answers, pecking him on the forehead. And they stay like that, contentedly cuddling until the movie ends.

After the film is over, Fred suggests watching the next one, but Tadashi tells him that he wants to read the book first. "I'll miss out on all the background details, and besides, it'll ruin the story for me!" he explains, making the fanboy extremely proud of him.

"All right then, I'll make sure to get you all of the books so you can start on that," he promises before standing up and stretching.

"What do you want to do now?" Tadashi asks, doing much the same, although Fred can't help but smile at the way his form of stretching always vaguely reminded him of a cat's.

"Well…" Fred considers this. "There is still the gardens out back, if you'd like to see them."

"Sure!" Tadashi grins at that. "I could use something a little active to do!"

Fred honestly had no problem with being a complete and total couch potato when he wanted to, but given that Tadashi had grown up on a farm it made sense that he needed a bit more physical activity than the fanboy did to burn off excess energy, so a leisurely walk through the gardens seemed like the perfect compromise. Fred had honestly loved going out to play on the grounds as a kid-he'd pretended he was Alice in Wonderland (although he insisted upon renaming the character Alex since he was a boy) or Mowgli out of _The Jungle Book_ or any number of characters. Out here walking with Tadashi, however, he couldn't help but feel like a very different sort of character-Mr. Darcy from _Pride and Prejudice_ , maybe, or one of Shakespeare's romantic heroes. For the fun of it, he actually started quoting some _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ when they were walking through the orderly rows of flower beds that his mother loved so much, and instead of laughing at him like most people would have, Tadashi actually smiled and asked him if he knew any more. They were out by the gazebo by then, so the fanboy sat him down on one of the benches and launched into his repertoire of Shakespearean monologues (those summers at theater camp were actually paying off!) His boyfriend had sat and listened, as if spellbound, for the entirety of it, smiling and sighing and generally reacting in all the right ways, enough to show Fred that he really was paying attention and not just pretending to be polite.

The sun was setting by the time that they start heading back at the house. The sky was a wash of gold and rose and a bit of periwinkle where there were clouds on the horizon and a few early fireflies were flickering to life. Fred couldn't help but think that maybe he'd kept Tadashi out too late by the way that his boyfriend was leaning heavily on his shoulder (despite their last two late nights, usually the nights on the farm involved turning in early), but it seemed more the calm, almost magical atmosphere of the garden at dusk that was producing a soporific effect on both of them, and they made their way back through the rows and hedges and bushes of flora in contented silence, fingers perfectly entwined.

Once back inside the house, it was like a switch had been flipped, the sleepy haze gone and both boys suddenly aware of how hungry they were after all of their walking. Feeling slightly giddy and spurred on by their hunger, they playfully "raced" each other through the house, neither actually running but putting on tiny bursts of speed to try to get ahead of each other, laughing as they go and eventually reaching the kitchen door together.

"Well, sounds like you two have been having a time of it!" Marie doesn't sound scolding as she says this, just smiling and gesturing to where their plates were waiting for them on the table (Fred still didn't know how she had such perfect timing, but it was just one of the many mysteries about the cook that would probably always go unanswered.)

Supper was delicious, as usual-one of Marie's specialties, shepherd's pie (apparently the recipe was the same one her great-grandmother and however many generations before that had used.) Being back in the kitchen, feeling somewhat sleepy after the long day, reminded Fred of his conversation with the cook that morning and he begins thinking about what they might do tomorrow.

"Do you have anything else you need to do before starting college back up?" Fred asks, looking over at his boyfriend. "Or any other business you need to do now that you're back in the city?"

"No, I don't think so," Tadashi answers after a moment of thoughtful silence. "I mean, I'll have to buy my textbooks before the start of the semester, but usually they don't post the lists of books until a little closer to the start of school, so that's about it. Why do you ask?"

"Just figured if you did need to do anything that we should probably get that out of the way first," Fred answers. "But since you don't, if it's alright with you, starting tomorrow I'm going to make good on my promise of showing you the city before school starts back up!"

"Oh, Fred, you don't have to-" Tadashi starts to protest, but the fanboy playfully puts a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"When are you going to learn that I do things for you, not because I have to, but because I want to? It makes me happy to see you happy," Fred says with a warm smile.

"All right," Tadashi relents when he finally lets go. "I-it's still not easy for me to let you spoil me like this-"

"I think you more than deserve some spoiling with everything you've been through," Fred says firmly, kissing him on the cheek.

"-But since it really does seem to make you happy," Tadashi continues as if he hadn't interrupted him, "okay, let's do this."

"Great!" Fred beams at him.

"So, what were you thinking for tomorrow?" Tadashi asks, scooping up a forkful of shepherd's pie.

"Well, I remember you saying that you hadn't been to the zoo," Fred replies, thinking through their options. "Would you like to go visit it?"

"I've never actually been to a zoo, period," Tadashi answers, blushing slightly at his admission.

"You haven't-? All right, that is definitely what we're doing tomorrow!" Fred declares.

"Sounds good!" Tadashi agrees, grinning over at him.

By the time that dinner was over, both guys were starting to drop, and so, not feeling up to doing anything that really required much energy and also knowing that they had an early morning ahead of them (Fred said that they had to get to the zoo early if they didn't want to stand in horrific lines given it was summer vacation), they head back to Fred's room so that the fanboy could make good on his promise of giving his boyfriend the next book in the _Harry Potter_ series. As it turned out, after that Tadashi asked if Fred needed to take a shower before heading to bed for the night, and, not wanting to seem gross by admitting when he was home he didn't shower near as much as he did on the farm (he could see good reason there, because he was constantly covered in dirt and sweat, but here there was something of a water shortage and it's not like he got all nasty just sitting inside all day), he answers that he does. His boyfriend then suggests that he should go take one as well while he was doing that so that they didn't waste any time waiting on each other, and Fred almost suggests just taking a shower together, but somehow he feels like that would be crossing a line that neither of them were ready for yet and so he just agrees to it, promising to check in with him before actually heading to bed. He takes the shortest shower he can manage while still actually getting clean before toweling off and then getting ready for bed, expecting to head over to Tadashi's room after he gets out to tell him goodnight. What he doesn't expect, when he comes back out into his room, is to find his boyfriend already in his bed, freshly showered and dressed in flannel pajama pants and a plain t-shirt, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ in his hands as he reads it sideways, his head already on the pillow. It was the second time in one day that Tadashi had inadvertently almost made the fanboy come on the spot. Or maybe for some reason he was actually trying to torture him?

"Hey!" Tadashi smiles softly as he looks up from the book, using his free arm to pat the space on the mattress next to him. "You ready for bed?"

Oh yes, Fred was definitely ready for bed, but not in exactly the way that his boyfriend meant it. He wanted so badly to just go right over there, rip the clothes off of him, and take him for his own. But no. He forces himself to take a deep breath and does everything in his power to coach himself down from the erection that he could feel starting (which wasn't easy, although he'd gotten a lot of practice over the summer.) This wasn't the right time for that. He and Tadashi hadn't even really talked about doing "it" yet. They'd mentioned it yesterday when they'd talked about sharing the bed in the hotel the night before, but they hadn't exactly discussed where they both stood on the issue. Originally his boyfriend had said that he wanted to wait until after marriage, which Fred would stand by and honor if those were his real wishes. But given the way that Tadashi seemed to want to make sharing a bed a nightly ritual, was this a sign that he was ready for things to move in _that_ direction?

"You okay?" Fred was startled out of his thoughts by his boyfriend's words-he sounded and looked slightly concerned.

"What? Oh, no, I'm fine!" the fanboy says, quickly shaking his head to clear it. "Just got a little bit lost in thought, is all."

"Oh, okay then." Tadashi didn't seem to fully buy that, but he didn't push the issue.

Feeling like he was finally stable, or at least stabler, Fred makes his way over to the bed, climbing in next to his boyfriend, who happily cuddles up against him. Sighing into the contact, Fred decides that, for tonight, this would be enough. If it's what Tadashi wanted, it would be more than enough. But as he turns the lights off and feels his boyfriend's warm form spooning his own, he knows that they're going to need to have a serious conversation about this, the sooner the better-for both their sakes.


	5. Chapter 5

Just as Fred had suspected, being used to having to get up at 6 am or earlier every day had totally reset his internal clock. Apparently his body would let him sleep in a little later than that, if he really wanted to, but given the two hour time difference between California and Texas he found himself waking up without even needing an alarm before the sun was even fully up. A part of him was slightly annoyed by this-the zoo didn't even open until 10 am, and nobody else was awake in the house this early so he had to keep it quiet for now. But what the heck was he supposed to do at freaking 6 am to keep himself from dying of boredom?

Well, he realized as he turns over and is reminded of the fact that his boyfriend was still lying there next to him, there was something he could do. He hated the fact that he probably was acting like Edward out of those creepy Twilight books, but there really was something fascinating about watching his boyfriend sleeping. Tadashi's chest rose and fell evenly, and it was adorable the way that his bangs fell into his face during the night-his morning hair was always ridiculous until he actually combed it, reminding Fred of Hiro's messy raven's nest, but the fanboy loved it, thinking it was adorable even though the elder Hamada seemed embarrassed by it. As Fred gazes lovingly over at his comatose boyfriend, he sees the other man's eyelids were fluttering as if he were experiencing a vivid dream. He hopes that it's a good one, but given the fact that he was frowning slightly in his sleep and his form twitching slightly, he can't help but worry that it's another nightmare. Part of him's tempted to just wake Tadashi up, but he probably needs to get all the sleep he can given they have a long day ahead of them, so instead he just reaches over and gently wraps his arms around him, holding him close and whispering, "It's okay, Dashi. You're safe now. You're going to be okay."

Slowly, his boyfriend starts to relax against him, reflexively nuzzling into his chest, his head tucked into the crook between the fanboy's jaw and neck. "Fred…" he whispers, and for a moment the other man thinks that he's actually woken up, but he doesn't say anything more, just letting out a contented sigh before going still against him.

"Love you, Dashi," Fred says softly, gently stroking his hair until he too fell back asleep.

When he woke up again two hours later, his head feels slightly fuzzy and he lets out a jaw-cracking yawn before turning over to see if Tadashi was awake yet-only to find that his boyfriend had disappeared.

Feeling momentarily startled, he sits up in bed, his heart pounding in his chest. Wait, where was he? Had something happened while Fred had been sleeping? Had someone taken his boyfriend? Was he in danger? Had that creepy pastor turned supervillain and sent his minions to steal Tadashi and the poor man was being tortured by some gay-hating militants right now?!

Fortunately, before the fanboy's imagination can take him too much further, he hears movement on the other side of the wall that his room shared with the guest bedroom that had been given to his boyfriend (the sound reducing insulation didn't always work in close proximity), and he lets out a huge sigh of relief. Tadashi had just gotten up and started getting ready for the day! Well, if that was the case, he should probably start getting ready to.

Part of him considers just wearing the same clothes he'd slept in like he normally did at home (again, he didn't see the purpose of constantly changing clothes if they weren't really that dirty), but then he remembers that that would be his third straight day of wearing them, and while that wasn't a problem for him, he got the feeling that Tadashi might not share the same sentiment and so he goes to his closet to find some fresh clothes. It was just as well, he decides as he starts randomly picking out pieces to throw together an outfit (he really wasn't that big on color coordination and stuff like that, although most of his clothes were in neutral enough tones that it was hard to pick anything that would actually clash.) On the farm, he'd spent his days wearing jeans and plain t-shirts-work clothes that would protect him while he was out in the fields or working with the animals. Sundays had involved the same flannel shirt he'd worn to the bonfire-that was as "dressed up" as it had gotten down there. Now, though, he was finally free to go back to his usual wardrobe of cargo shorts, nerdy t-shirts, and, of course, his treasured beanie collection! He's just finishing settling his favorite beanie onto his head and looking at his reflection in the mirror when suddenly a stab of uncertainty goes through him-that's right, Tadashi had never actually seen him dressed like this before. What if he hated it? What if he thought that the fanboy's casual style made him look like a total slob? He wouldn't be completely surprised by this reaction-his wardrobe choices had often been criticized by his mother and most of the adults in his life, including some of his high school teachers who for some reason considered him a slacker despite his average grades in most classes and stellar scores in language arts! Should he maybe try something a bit more formal? It wasn't like him to worry about appearances, but when it came to Tadashi…

A knock on the door to his room startles him out of his mini anxiety attack and he calls out, "W-who is it?"

"Fred? It's me, Tadashi," a voice from the other side answers. "Can I come in?"

"U-um…" Fred honestly couldn't think of a good excuse for keeping him out, so he answers, "S-sure, the door's unlocked."

He twitches involuntarily as his boyfriend pushes the door open, only to have a sharp intake of breath and to have all worries about his own clothes swept right out of his consciousness as he takes in his boyfriend. Tadashi had spent pretty much the whole summer dressing the same way as Fred, wearing loose jeans, plain t-shirts, and the occasional flannel shirt. Now, though, it was like some fairy godmother or fashion designer had kidnapped him and completely replaced his wardrobe. In place of the worn jeans was a pair of brown tailored slacks, the frayed t-shirt was replaced by a fitted black v-neck, and instead of a flannel shirt over it all he had on an olive-green blazer which Fred wasn't sure if it made him look older or gave him something of a school boy charm. Whatever the case, it was all the poor fanboy could do not to drool as he stares at him, feeling horribly underdressed in comparison.

"I, um… Yeah." Tadashi rubs the back of his neck, blushing bright red at Fred's reaction. "I-I know this isn't what I usually wear on the farm, but when I started attending SFIT, I found out that I needed to dress more professionally to be taken seriously, so one of my friends helped me put together a new wardrobe for whenever I'm here in SF… I-if you don't like it, I can totally change-"

"Are you kidding me?" Fred finally manages to regain use of his words. "You look awesome !"

"R-really?" Tadashi's blush turns to pink and he smiles shyly at him.

"Yeah, totally!" Fred agrees. "You look like you just stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine or something!"

"Well, Aiko does know what she's doing when it comes to clothes, apparently," Tadashi mumbles, still appearing embarrassed by all of the attention. "I was pretty hopeless for most of the first semester…"

"Aiko?" Fred asks curiously.

"One of my friends from the lab I work in-she's a chemistry major," Tadashi explains, seeming glad for the change of topic. "She's a total sweetheart and she kind of adopted me because she's lived her entire life here in the city and she could tell that I was completely lost out here."

"Well, that was nice of her," Fred says with a warm smile. "Maybe you can introduce me to her sometime?"

"Totally!" Tadashi agrees with an eager nod. "I'd like you to get to meet all of my friends for the university-o-only if you want to, of course!" he quickly adds.

"That sounds awesome!" Fred answers. It would be nice to get to know the type of people his boyfriend hung out with-from the bits and pieces he'd gathered from what the other man had said over the summer, they all sounded like they were major nerds, and that was exactly his type of crowd!  
"I'd really like for them to get to meet my boyfriend, too," Tadashi adds with a slight smile.

"Hopefully they'll approve of me," Fred says, suddenly feeling slightly nervous at the idea of his boyfriend's group of friends not being okay with him and causing some sort of tension between them.

"They'll love you!" Tadashi answers firmly. "Well… Ethel may take a little bit to warm up to you, but she just doesn't trust people easily in general. I know you'll win her over no problem, though!"

"Well, your confidence in me is reassuring, even if it might be a bit biased," Fred replies with a slight smile.

"Nope, you're just that amazing," Tadashi tells him, coming over to peck him on the cheek. When he pulls away, he playfully tugs at his boyfriend's beanie. "That looks really cute on you, by the way," he says with a grin.

"Y-yeah?" Now it's Fred's turn to blush. "It's not too dorky for you?"

"What? No!" Tadashi cries. "It suits you-even if it was dorky, which it isn't, you totally make it work!"

"Really?" Fred's practically beaming now.

"Really," Tadashi answers, and this time it's Fred who pulls him into a kiss.

"So," Fred says when they finally break for air, "now that we've gotten to know each other in Texas… Looks like we're getting to know each other in San Fransokyo too?"

"Yep! And I can't wait," Tadashi replies, happily pecking him on the lips.

"So-am I allowed to escort you to breakfast?" Fred asks, playfully offering him his arm.

"Aw, just as much of a gentleman here as back on the farm," Tadashi says, taking the offered arm and happily nuzzling into him.

"See? Not really that different as all that," Fred replies, gently bumping his hip as he leads them towards the door.

"Well, you two are certainly up early!" Marie says with a smile as they walk into the kitchen a few minutes later. "Yesterday 10:30, today 8:30-loves, you're going to have to make your schedule a little more stable or I won't know when to feed you!"

"Sorry, Marie," Fred apologizes. "I swear we're working on it!"

"Oh, pish, I'm just pulling your legs," Marie answers, waving aside his apologies. "Sit down and I'll get some breakfast together for you! What are you hungry for?"

"Anything you make is amazing," Fred replies, earning himself a pleased grin from the cook.

"What about you, dear? Anything you're partial to?" Marie asks, turning to Tadashi.

"Well, I, um…" Tadashi seems slightly embarrassed by the question. "I mean, I don't want to put you to any trouble…"

"He really liked his aunt's biscuits and gravy," Fred puts in helpfully.

"Well, I don't have your aunt's recipe, but I do make some pretty good ones myself," Marie says with a warm smile.

"I… That would be great," Tadashi admits, giving her a grateful look.

"Of course! I'll have them ready in a jiffy!" Marie tells him before turning to start on breakfast.

"Everyone is so nice here," Tadashi says softly to Fred.

"Yeah, the staff is amazing-they're kind of like family to me," Fred answers. "They're actually kind of more like family to me than my real family ever was," he adds quietly.

"I'm sorry." Tadashi gently squeezes his arm. He'd heard his boyfriend talking about his parents on and off over the summer, and he still had a hard time believing that anyone could just abandon their kid like that, but if Fred said that it was how things were, he would believe him.

"Meh, what can you do?" the fanboy sighs, shrugging. "And, I mean, I got really lucky having so many other people who do care about me, so that's important, right?"

"Yeah." Tadashi gently squeezes his hand.

"So!" Fred decides that it's time to move on to another topic-he didn't like talking about his own serious stuff for too long. "The zoo-what are you most excited to see?"

"I don't know," Tadashi admits. "Like I said, I've never been to one before!"

"Well, let's take a look at the map and see if maybe we can get an idea of what's all there, huh?" Fred offers, pulling out his phone. "It doesn't hurt to have a game plan-pick out the places we really want to go to first so that we make sure we don't miss them!"

"Sounds like a good idea," Tadashi agrees with a nod, looking over his boyfriend's shoulder as the other man pulls up the map on the zoo website.

"All right, so-wow, the zoo is a lot bigger than I remembered!" Fred says as he zooms in so that they can actually read the labels. "We're definitely not getting through this all in one day-but, hey, it's all good, we can go back another time, right?"

"Right," Tadashi agrees before starting to read through the exhibits. "Let's see… Primate Discovery Center, African Region, Cat Kingdom, Bear Country, South America, Outback Trail, Children's Zoo-OH!" His eyes light up as he spots the last area of the zoo. "Japanese Pavilion!"

"Yeah," Fred agrees, looking back at him with a slight smile. "That's one of the most famous parts of the zoo-it's kind of a big thing because of the whole mixing of cultures thing that happened during the rebuilding after the big 1906 hurricane."

"Do you know what all animals they have there?" Tadashi asks eagerly.

"Well, let's see!" Fred zooms in. "Looks like they have Serows, Martens, Tanukis, and Red Foxes."

"Oh my gosh, we have to go!" Tadashi cries, eagerly squeezing his boyfriend's arm.

"I'll take it you have a thing for Japanese culture?" Fred asks curiously.

"Yeah, totally-it's where my dad's side of the family was from and, even though they ended up living in Texas, they kept the culture alive as much as they could," Tadashi explains. "I kind of remember my dad teaching me some stuff when I was little, but he didn't get to do ,too much before he… Well, you know." The man's face saddens slightly, and Fred couldn't blame him-it couldn't be easy to find out that one of your parents had committed suicide, especially after thinking that they'd just died in an accident. Still, before the fanboy can try to comfort him, he quickly shakes his head and continues, "So yeah, that's why me and Hiro call each other 'nii-chan' and 'otouto'-kind of a way to keep our parents' memory alive, y'know? It's also kind of why I love this city so much, because it reminds me of my dad…"

"That's extremely sweet." Fred presses a gentle kiss to his temple. "And hey-if you want to see that Japanese Pavilion, we are going to see that Japanese Pavilion, no matter what it takes!"

"Really?" Tadashi flashes him a grateful smile.

"Totally!" the fanboy agrees with a firm nod.

The rest of breakfast was spent in excited planning for the rest of their trip over Marie's biscuits and gravy. They weren't quite like Aunt Cass', but Tadashi was polite enough not to say anything and he seemed to be enjoying them all the same.

"All right, you ready to go?" Fred asks the minute his boyfriend puts his fork down.

"Think so!" Tadashi agrees before standing up and starting to carry his dishes towards the sink.

"Oh no, dear, you leave that to me," Marie tells him, confiscating the plate.

"But-" Tadashi starts to protest.

"No 'but's'," Marie answers firmly. "You deserve to just have a nice day out, so leave the dishes to me, all right?"

"Don't try to argue with her, she hasn't let me do my own dishes in-well, ever," Fred tells his boyfriend in a stage whisper.

"Okay…" Tadashi looks like he's still not completely comfortable with leaving things like this, but instead of arguing he just sighs and nods.

"There's a good lad." Marie smiles over at him.

"I'll get texting Heathcliff to have him bring the car around," Fred tells his boyfriend, starting to lead him out of the kitchen.

"Heathcliff?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"My family's butler who also acts as chauffeur, head of the staff, and kind of takes care of things whenever my parents are away," Fred explains as he shoots off the message. "I think you met him when we got here two nights ago-he was the one who greeted us at the door."

"There were a lot of people there," Tadashi admits. "But I might kind of vaguely remember him?"

"Well, don't worry-you'll get to know him pretty quickly in the next couple of weeks whenever he's driving us places," Fred promises.

"Okay," Tadashi agrees as the fanboy leads him towards the front door, admitting with a nervous laugh, "I'll be honest, I'm not used to having people do things for me…"

"In that case, you definitely deserve some pampering," Fred tells him, firmly on the cheek.

"I guess I'm going to have to get used to that whether I like it or not?" Tadashi sighs.

"Think of it this way-in a little less than a month you'll be hard at work with classes and everything at the university. Why not enjoy the break while you can?" Fred answers.

"...That does kind of make me feel a little better about things," Tadashi replies after considering that for a moment.

"See? You just keep telling yourself that, then!" Fred declares as he opens the door for him.

Out front, the limo was already waiting for them-Heathcliff was ridiculously prompt, and while Fred still had no idea how he did it (yeesh, was the entire staff made up of superheroes or something?) he had learned that it was better not to ask given the butler hardly ever said anything, let alone answered questions like that.

"Whoa…" Tadashi lets out a tiny gasp. "I-is that what we're going to be riding in?"

"Yeah, I know it's a little showy," Fred sighs. "But it's what we have, so as long as it doesn't freak you out too bad-"

"Guess it's just one more thing for me to get used to?" Tadashi replies.

"That's the spirit!" Fred agrees with a laugh before leading him down the steps.

"Master Frederick. Master Tadashi," Heathcliff greets them when they reach the bottom, bowing and opening the limo door for them.

"Oh, um, thank you," Tadashi says, looking slightly embarrassed. "But you don't have to call me that, just Tadashi is fine."

"I've been trying to get him to call me Fred for years, just go with it," Fred tells him, gently patting his arm before helping him in.

"Wow… This is a lot different than riding in my truck," Tadashi observes, staring around in awe at the interior as he takes a seat, looking almost afraid to touch anything for fear of somehow breaking it.

"Yeah, a lot more room," Fred agrees before playfull adding, "Think of the awesome make out sessions we could have in here!"

"Wow, what a story to tell the grandkids," Tadashi jokes, laughing and looking more comfortable. "Your grandfather and I started out in the back of my old pickup truck, but then we upgraded to a limo and never looked back!"

"And why would we be telling this to the grandkids?" Fred asks, raising an eyebrow and pretending to be concerned.

"Meh, old people are allowed to talk about whatever they want, maybe it'll be revenge on our kids for all the years of stress and worry they put us through?" Tadashi suggests.

"So long as it doesn't traumatize the grandbabies."

"We'll wait until they're teenagers and they're old enough to want to talk about doing that sort of thing."

"Fair enough!" Fred agrees, shaking his head slightly but smiling all the same. He wondered if now might be the right time to bring up what he'd been thinking about the night before, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't quite get the words out, fear clogging his throat. He didn't want to make things uncomfortable, especially before they could even start their day at the zoo! Maybe doing it later, in a more appropriate setting, would be better. Yeah, that's what he'd do. It made him feel a bit like a coward, but he didn't want to hurt his boyfriend in the wrong way or at the wrong time, so he comforted himself with that.

"All right, we're here!" the fanboy says eagerly a little while later, looking out the window and seeing the sign for the zoo entrance coming up on their right.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!" Tadashi admits, bumping his leg against his.

"You should be, because we are going to have the best zoo day ever !" Fred declares, reaching over to squeeze his hand as the limo pulls to a stop in front of the ticket booths.

"What time should I come back for you gentlemen?" Heathcliff asks as he opens the door for them.

"The zoo closes at 5, so probably right around then," Fred answers, helping his boyfriend out.

"Of course." Heathcliff nods respectfully. "I will be here promptly at 5."

"Seriously," Fred whispers as the butler gets back into the limo and drives away. "We could stand at the gates and time it, he will be here on the second. Trust me, I've done it before, it's awesome and creepy at the same time."

"Nice!" Tadashi laughs, gently leaning into him before reaching down to take his hand in his own.

"So, you ready to do this?" Fred asks, gesturing towards the gates.

"Ready," Tadashi agrees.

They had gotten there just before the zoo officially opened, and fortunately the lines at the ticket booths weren't too long, so it only took them about fifteen minutes to get in (which was something of a miracle considering it was the height of tourist season in SF.)

"C'mon!" Fred tugs at Tadashi's hand the minute they're inside the gate. "The Japanese pavilion is at the back of the zoo, we'll get there and have the whole place to ourselves while everyone else is checking out the exhibits here at the entrance!"

"That is actually brilliant, I love it!" the elder Hamada laughs, allowing himself to be pulled along and keeping up easily.

"See? I am the master of brilliant plans!" Fred declares.

"Yes, yes you are!" Tadashi pecks him on the cheek and then pulls slightly ahead, quickly turning their race against the crowds into a race against each other.

"Ha, beat you!" Tadashi declares, reaching the Pavilion's courtyard moments before his boyfriend.

"Not fair!" Fred complains. "You have longer legs than I do!"

"I'm only, like, two, three inches taller than you," Tadashi points out.

"Different proportions-your legs are definitely longer than mine," Fred argues.

"All right, fine!" Tadashi rolls his eyes playfully. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"...I dunno, I guess I just wanted to prove my point?" Fred admits.

"Point acknowledged." Tadashi lovingly kisses his temple.

"Fair enough." Fred nods in approval before taking his hand again. "So, ready to go see all of the creatures from your homeland?"

"Born ready!" Tadashi answers eagerly.

"Let's go then!"

Fred honestly hadn't had any idea what half of the animals listed on the map for this pavilion were, but he found them all equally adorable. Serows turned out to be little goat-antelope creatures with blackish-whitish fur that was extremely fluffy. Martens were little brownish creatures that to the fanboy kind of looked like a cross between a ferret and a squirrel with their little pointed faces and long, bushy tails. The description on the tanuki's enclosure described them as a raccoon-dog, and with the face and tails of raccoons and the stubby little bodies of a small dog, that pretty much described them perfectly. The most familiar animal to Fred was the red fox-those were also native to America and he'd even seen one in the wild once when he'd been on a rare trip with his parents. To his surprise, though, Tadashi had a different name for them.

"Kitsune," he breathes, his fingers gently brushing the glass.

"Kit-what?" Fred asks, looking over at him with curiosity.

"Kitsune!" Tadashi answers, grinning over at him. "Well, probably not really, but it would be cool if they were!"

"Sorry, I think you lost me there," Fred admits.

"You haven't heard about the Japanese shape-shifters?" Tadashi asks, looking surprised.

"Um… Maybe?" Fred answers. "It's been a little while, if I have."

"According to Japanese legend, there are at least three shapeshifting animals-the martens, the tanukis, and the kitsune, or mythical foxes."

"Whoa!" Fred's eyes go wide. "So, like-we just saw all of them?"

"Uh huh!" Tadashi agrees excitedly.

"What do they shape-shift into?" Fred asks, curious now.

"Well, lots of things," Tadashi answers. "Random objects, monsters-but my favorite stories were always about the kitsunes."

"Why's that?" Fred asks curiously.

"I liked the way that kitsune would sometimes disguise themselves as humans and go around living human lives with no one the wiser," Tadashi admits. "It was possible for people to tell sometimes if they were caught off guard-like, they'd see a tail or something-but I just loved the idea of secretly being something that others didn't know about, being 'special' somehow. I guess it's kind of like how most kids pretend to be superheroes or stuff like that, but I wanted to be a magical shape-shifting fox!"

"That's still cute," Fred says with a warm smile. "I think that's really cool, actually!"

"Yeah." Tadashi leans contemplatively into him before saying softly, "I guess I kind of got my wish…"

"What?" Fred looks over at him. "Is this your way of telling me that you're actually not human? 'Cause, y'know, cool if that's the case, but maybe you could have told me a little earlier on in the relationship!"

"No!" Tadashi smiles and playfully whacks him. "As far as I know, I'm completely human!"

"But how do you know for sure?" Fred asks, poking him as if to see if he'd transform.

"Stop it!" Tadashi rolls his eyes and pushes his hands away. "I'm trying to be serious here!"

"Okay, sorry, I'll be good!" Fred promises, leaving off. "Just trying to figure out where you're going with all of this."

"I just… I know it's not the same, but I guess I can't help but think that maybe the fact that I always had this weird thing about wanting to be different, feeling like I wasn't like everyone else-maybe it was my brain's way of telling me early on that I was different," Tadashi answers quietly.

"Different how?" Fred presses.

"'Cause I'm gay," Tadashi replies softly.

"Oh. Oh! Gotcha." Fred nods his head slowly, as if taking that in. "Yeah, I could see that."

"I mean, it's not like I think I'm better than everyone else because I like guys or anything like that!" Tadashi hurries to add.

"No, of course not," Fred agrees.

"But… I dunno, aside from the fact that some people are jerks about it… It's kind of cool, actually," Tadashi continues. "Y'know, being different. Being a part of something that isn't considered 'normal' and that not everyone understands."

"I hadn't really thought about it that way," Fred admits, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend's waist. "But yeah, that makes sense."

"I figure, if nothing else, it's a way to look at it positively instead of letting myself get caught up in all of the negative stuff people might have to say about me because of it," Tadashi adds.

"Hey, if it helps you, I'd say hold onto that and keep believing it!" Fred says firmly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"You don't think it's stupid or anything?" Tadashi asks shyly.

"What? No, of course not!" Fred replies. "If anything, that might explain why I was and still am so addicted to superheroes. I mean, we do kind of get a bad rap sometimes even if most of the time we just want to be left alone or help other people. It's kind of like being a mutant in the X-men world!"

"Yeah, exactly!" Tadashi laughs, lightly nuzzling into him.

"Wow, that sure got philosophical fast, huh?" Fred observes with a slight laugh.

"Sorry," Tadashi apologizes, wincing slightly.

"No, it's okay." Fred pecks him on the cheek. "That's just who you are. You find something meaningful in everyday things and it's one of the things I love about you."

"Really?" Tadashi gives him a hopeful smile.

"Totally," Fred agrees, grinning back.

For a little while they don't say anything, just standing there and watching the sleeping foxes in the enclosure. Then the fanboy thinks to ask, "Hey, did you want a picture with these little guys?"

"What? Oh, um, sure!" Tadashi answers, looking slightly surprised but pleased by the question.

"Awesome!" Fred grins and waits while his boyfriend got himself situated close to the foxes before snapping the picture.

"Got it!" He says once he's checked to make sure it had come out alright.

"Aw, I love it!" Tadashi beams when he comes over to look at it.

"We'll definitely have to send it to your aunt and Hiro," Fred say, glad that the other man liked how it had turned out.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Tadashi agrees eagerly.

"Hm… What do you think about taking as many pictures as we can so that we can send them to your family and make it almost like they were here?" Fred suggests.

Tadashi stares up at him for a minute before saying, "You are amazing, you know that?"

"I have my moments," Fred answers playfully.

"So, where to next?" the fanboy asks a few minutes later as they walk out of the Pavilion.

"I dunno," Tadashi admits. "Any suggestions?"

"Well, let's see." The other man pulls out the zoo map he'd snagged on the way in and holds it out to his boyfriend. "Any animals you particularly want to see?"

"They all sound awesome," Tadashi admits, scanning the page, before letting out a squeak of excitement.

"What?" Fred asks curiously, trying to see what he was looking at.

"They have a red panda!" Tadashi answers eagerly, pointing to a spot over in the children's portion of the zoo. "We have to see that!"

"I'll take it you like them?" Fred says playfully.

"Totally! They are, like, cuteness incarnate"! Tadashi cries.

Note to self, Fred thinks, my boyfriend apparently has a major thing for cute and fluffy creatures. File this away as potentially important information.

Out loud he says, "All right then, that's definitely on the docket! Hm…." He studies the map thoughtfully. "That exhibit is all the way over on the other side of the zoo and it's right next to the gates, so it would make sense to leave that for last-keep us from wasting time. That said…" He looks down at the map again. "I know that we can't hit up all of the exhibits today, so we should just hit up the most important ones. So here's what I propose: We're right next to the Cat Kingdom, so we go through that and then head over to the African Region. Then we cut back though the Primate Discovery Center, eat a late lunch at the Leaping Lemur Cafe on the other side of it, and then finish the day over in the Children's Zoo. That sound good to you?"

"Yeah, definitely!" Tadashi agrees, more than willing to let him take the lead. "Only…"

"Only?" Fred prompts him gently.

"Only can we take a slight detour on our way over to the cat Kingdom?" Tadashi pleads. "There's a Penguin area, and how cute are those little guys?"

"This is your day, we'll do whatever you want," Fred promises.

"Thank you!" Tadashi grins and glomps onto him.

"Anything for you," Fred answers, slipping an arm around his waist and starting to lead him in the right direction.

The morning passed quickly, the guys hurrying from one exhibit to another in what turned into something of a scavenger hunt to find and photograph all of the animals listed on the map. Still, they took time to properly enjoy visiting the creature as well-Fred swore he would never forget the adorably shocked look on Tadashi's face when he saw a real live giraffe for the first time (and if he did, he had the picture to remind him of it.) It was about two o'clock when the finally reach the cafe and stop to take a breather.

"You know, we may have a little more time than I thought, maybe we can squeeze in another area before we leave," Fred says as he surveys the menu.

"That would be awesome," Tadashi agrees before adding quickly, "But we go to see the red panda first to make sure that we don't miss it, right?"

"Right," Fred answers, pecking him on the cheek and then asking, "So, what looks good to you?"

They order their food at the counter (some sort of fancy turkey sandwiches that the fanboy knew would be ridiculously enormous and, as such, they'd decided to split) and then go to grab a table. As they're waiting, Fred moves his chair over next to Tadashi's so that they can go over the morning's pictures together, trying to decide on the best ones so that they can send them to Aunt Cass and Hiro. While they're working on this, the fanboy tries not to pay too much attention to the fact that the other man wasn't exactly following the general rules of personal space and being rather touchy-feely with the hand holding and footsie under the table. Fred tries to tell himself as he gets up to go grab their order once their number is called that he was just over-analyzing things after last night and that Tadashi wasn't really trying to push for anything more. But when he sits back down, only for his boyfriend to not only rest his hand on his leg but let it slide down over his inner thigh, the fanboy knew that he had to say something.

"T-Tadashi," he gasps quietly, not sure if he should move the hand or not.

"Mm?" Tadashi looks over at him, and poor Fred isn't sure if he's just imagining it or if there's a hint of mischief in his otherwise innocent expression.

"I-You-We can't keep doing this," the fanboy finally stammers.

"Doing what?" Tadashi asks,

"You-Us… Touching. And doing stuff like this," Fred answers, feeling a hot blush on his cheeks. "I-I love you, and I don't want to hurt you. But I'm afraid that if you k-keep doing stuff like… t-touching me in certain ways or sleeping in my bed… That I won't be able to control myself and I'll end up doing something we'll both regret…"

He flinches, preparing himself for Tadashi to yell at him for being a pervert or tell him that he was completely disgusted with best thing he could hope for was that his boyfriend would agree that it was a problem and that they needed to tone things down (not that Fred actually wanted things to calm down, but he knew that he would if it was for Tadashi's good.) What he didn't expect, however, was for the other man to actually start laughing.

"Oh my gosh, thank goodness, I thought I was doing it wrong," he chuckles, shaking his head slightly.

"W-wait, what?" Fred stammers. "I-I'm confused, I think you're going to have to explain this to me…"

"What I mean is," Tadashi answers with a slightly embarrassed but also amused look, "I've been trying to turn you on for the past couple of days. After that first night in the hotel-I knew that you were the only one I ever wanted to do that sort of thing with, and I know that couples show love and commitment when they… Well, when they give themselves to each other. So I just thought…"

"Oh. Oh!" Fred's eyes go wide as the truth sets in. "So you-you've been doing all of this stuff because… because you wanted to have sex with me?"

"K-kind of," Tadashi admits, looking down at the floor and blushing. "I-I'm sorry, maybe I assumed too much…"

"No!" Fred winces as he realizes that he'd actually shouted that. "No," he says again, his voice much softer this time. "I would actually… I'd love to have sex with you, because I feel the same way about you and I want you to know that I'm committed to you for the long run-even our whole lives, if at all possible. But Dashi, I want to make sure that you're-that you're not rushing into this or feeling pressured to do it or anything. You can only have your first time once, and I want to make sure that it's something super amazing and special for you, not something you'll end up regretting later."

"Trust me, I'm not rushing into this," Tadashi answers, squeezing his boyfriend's hand. "I've actually been thinking about it for a while, and while I don't know what exactly the future holds or how all of this is supposed to work, I do know that I love you and that I never want to do this with anyone else. And I'm not saying we have to do it tonight or even anytime soon. But I just wanted to let you know where I stood and to tell you that, if you'll have me, that I'm ready to give myself to you, and only you."

"W-wow, I… I don't even know what to say," Fred admits, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling his cheeks turning bright pink.

"And you don't have to say anything for right now," Tadashi reassures him. "Just take your time to think about it and, if you ever decide anything, let me know whenever you're comfortable, okay?"

"Okay," Fred agrees. He knows that he should tell Tadashi that he wanted this just as much as he did and that he would be more than happy to do it right now if they were somewhere private. But somehow the words just weren't coming, and so he just nods.

"Awesome!" Tadashi beams and returns his attention to his meal and seeming glad to have gotten that off of his chest.

Fred, for his part, picks nervously at his sandwich, feeling like he needed to say something more, until finally he puts the sub down and reaches over to pull his boyfriend into a passionate kiss.

"Whoa…" Tadashi gasps, looking slightly dazed when they break for air. "W-What was that for?"

"I. Want you." Fred answers, holding the other man's shoulders and looking right into his eyes. "And, if you want me, I want you have all of me, starting now and for as long as you can stand to continue putting up with me."

"Y-yeah?" Tadashi looks back at him, smiling shyly.

"Absolutely," Fred replies firmly.

"O-okay." Tadashi nods his head. "So, we're on the same page then?"

"Definitely," Fred agrees.

"And does that mean that tonight…?" Tadashi asks, leaving the ending open for his boyfriend to fill in the blank.

"If you want to, yes," Fred replies, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead. "But maybe we can just wait and see how we're feeling, decide if it's the right time when we're actually at that point instead of trying to force it if we don't."

"Sounds good," Tadashi sighs, contentedly nuzzling into him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Dashi," Fred responds, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close.

The minute the two were done with lunch and had finished busing their table, they made their way over to the children's zoo.

"Do you think the red panda will be as cute as all the pictures show?" Tadashi asks eagerly.

"Well, we can only hope," Fred answers.

"Ooh, I wish were already there!"

"Patience, love!" Fred chuckles, loving how his boyfriend reminded him of an overeager two-year-old sometimes.

"I'm trying, but it's not easy!" Tadashi huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry, we'll be there soon enough," his boyfriend promises, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

True to his word, they were soon through the gates of the children's zoo and on their way to the Red Panda Tree House.

"There it is!" Tadashi points excitedly to the enclosure, tugging on Fred's hand.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" the fanboy laughs, hurrying after him.

"Ooh, do you see him?" Tadashi asks, looking through the glass.

"Um, nope, not ye-Oh, there he is!" Fred points above them to where the furry red creature was perched on a wooden platform.

"Aw!" Tadashi lets out a high-pitched squeak. "It's so cute!"

"Yes, yes it is," Fred agrees with a chuckles before adding, "But still not as cute as you."

That got an even louder squeak out of Tadashi, plus a very rewarding kiss, leaving Fred to decide that maybe red pandas just might be his new favorite animal if they helped him get this kind of response from his boyfriend.

"So, where too next?" Tadashi asks once they leave the habitat, heading back out into the Children's Zoo.

"Well, it looks like there are prairie dogs, insects-Ooh!" Fred's eyes go wide with excitement. "There's a farm area!"

"There's a farm area?!" Tadashi cries eagerly. "Can we go?"

"Totally!" Fred agrees, taking his hand. "C'mon, it's this way!"

The fanboy couldn't help but grin as they spent the next hour in the miniature farm. It was so sweet seeing Tadashi playing with the baby goats and petting the horses and cows. What was even cuter was how, once a parent complimented him on how good he was with the animals and he explained that he'd grown up on a farm in Texas, a bunch of the kiddos in the surrounding area decided that he was a "real life cowboy" and started pestering him with a million questions that he was more than happy to answer for them. Fred couldn't help but wonder if it was possible for anyone to be more perfect and, after a minute's thought, he decided that no, no it wasn't.

"Sorry that we kind of got hung up there," Tadashi apologizes as they head for the gates after the "half an hour to closing" warning is broadcast through the park. "I know that you wanted to see if we could go check out another area, but-"

"Hey, it's okay." Fred pecks him firmly on the cheek. "You were having fun, and that's what mattered."

"I'll be honest, it kind of felt like a little piece of home here in SF," Tadashi answers.

"I figured as much," Fred agrees, making a mental note to get Tadashi a zoo membership so he could come back and visit this place whenever he was starting to feel homesick. Out loud he says, "I got a lot of really cute pictures, so that's good! Think we have enough to send to your family?"

"I think we have more than enough!" Tadashi laughs.

"Yeah, better get sending them now if they want to be finished before midnight, right?" Fred chuckles.

"Right!" Tadashi agrees before saying, "Ooh, hold on, one more! Let's take a picture together with the zoo sign!"

"Sounds good," Fred answers, taking the shot before sending the pictures off to Aunt Cass.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" he asks as they stand just outside the gates, waiting for Heathcliff to arrive.

"I dunno," Tadashi admits. "You're the one who knows the city, do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, it has been kind of a long day. Maybe we could go somewhere and grab a light dinner-or, y'know, a light snack, since we just ate lunch a couple of hours ago, and then see what we feel like doing?" Fred suggests. "It'll give me some time to see if there's anything going on in the area event-wise or such."

"Sounds good!" Tadashi agrees with a firm nod.

"What kind of food are you in the mood for?" Fred asks.

"I dunno," Tadashi admits. "I mean, you said something light, but I'm not sure exactly what that constitutes…"

"Are you a fan of sushi at all?" Fred asks.

"Um… Honestly haven't had much of a chance to try it," Tadashi admits. "I think Aunt Cass tried to make something like it from an old family recipe once or twice, but it's hard to find the right ingredients to make that sort of thing in a small town. I know some of my university friends really like it, but if we were having takeout I kind of stuck to the stuff I knew."

"Would you feel like trying it tonight?" Fred offers.

"...Would you be offended if I was willing to try it but didn't like it?" Tadashi answers.

"Of course not!" Fred says reassuringly. "Here, tell you what-we'll order a couple of things aside from the sushi so if you don't like it you're not stuck eating it, okay?"

"Okay, sounds good," Tadashi agrees with a slight smile.

"Perfect!" Fred starts pulling up the number for his favorite sushi and other Japanese specialties place. "I know the best place in town for it, I usually order from them if I'm going out somewhere where you're expected to bring your own food, like game nights or local concerts or-Oh my gosh!" The fanboy's eyes go wide as the idea suddenly hits him.

"What?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"Hold on a sec, but I think I may know what we're doing tonight!" Fred answers, eagerly pulling up the web browser on his phone. He checks the website of the local troupe, searching for dates and times and-

"Yes! Perfect!" he cries triumphantly.

"What's perfect?" Tadashi asks, nudging him. "Stop being so secretive!"

"Sorry!" Fred apologizes. "Just didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure that this would work!"

"And you know now that it will?"

"Yep!"

"Then tell me already!"

"Okay, okay!" Fred laughs. "All right-as far as I can tell, you like Shakespeare, right?"

"Totally!" Tadashi agrees. "I actually played Banquo in my high school's production of Macbeth !"

"Whoa, really?" Fred is slightly surprised by this and files it away as something that might end up being important later on before getting back to the subject at hand. "All right, well, maybe for an 'experienced Shakespearean actor' such as yourself, this might not be terribly exciting, but how would you feel about going to see some Shakespeare in the Park?"

"Shakespeare in what?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"It's where a troupe of actors puts on a Shakespearean play in an open-air theater," Fred explains. "There's a really good group who performs around here, and they're having a production of Pericles tonight in a local park. Feel like going? We can have a picnic dinner on the lawn and everything!"

"Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing!" Tadashi's eyes light up eagerly. "C-Can we really do that?"

"If it makes you this happy? Absolutely!" Fred grins and pecks him on the cheek.

"You're the best boyfriend ever, you know that?" Tadashi happily nuzzles into him.

"Well, I try," Fred answers with a slight smile, hugging him before glancing up and seeing Heathcliff pulling up to the curb. "And-what did I tell you?" He pulls out his phone to check the time. "Right on the second!"

"Wow-I don't know if that's awesome or kind of creepy," Tadashi admits.

"It's better to just not think about it too much," Fred answers, patting him on the shoulder.

Once they're in the limo, Fred calls ahead to the take out place he had in mind and places their order so that it will be ready when they get there. He also asks Heathcliff if they can stop by the mansion to pick up lawn chairs and a blanket for the impromptu picnic, which the butler agrees without even a murmur of complaint.

It's on their way back to the mansion that Tadashi's phone starts ringing. Both guys, who had been happily cuddling on the seat, were slightly startled by it but, after a moment or two of frantic fumbling, Tadashi finally finds the phone in his pocket.

"It's Aunt Cass!" he tells Fred eagerly once he checks the caller ID.

"Oh, pick it up!" Fred says with a grin.

"I'll put it on speakerphone so we can both talk to her," Tadashi replies before finally answering it.

"Hello?"

"Tadashi! Is that you, sweetheart?" Aunt Cass' voice comes from the other end.

"Yeah, it's me," Tadashi agrees.

"And Fred!" Fred adds, wanting her to know that he was also listening in case she wanted to say something to Tadashi that was personal and she really didn't want him to hear.

"Well, hello to both of you!" Aunt Cass laughs. "I just got your pictures-it looks like you had a fun day together!"

"We totally did!" Tadashi agrees. "It was so much fun seeing all of those animals! And now Fred's actually taking me to see a Shakespeare play in a park near here!"

"Goodness, you're certainly having a full day!" Aunt Cass chuckles. "It sounds like you're settling back into SF just fine."

Not missing the slightly wistful note in her tone, Tadashi quickly hurries to add, "I'm still missing you guys like crazy! I can't wait for you both to be out here with me… Any news on that front?"

"Yes, actually!" Aunt Cass' tone instantly lightens. "Some pretty good news, surprisingly enough!"

"Really?" Tadashi looks over at Fred, grinning with excitement, and the fanboy returns the smile full-force.

"Yep! For one thing, I talked to Mr. Henderson up the road, and not only was his offer still open, but… You're not going to believe this, but since he heard about what happened, he's actually insisting on paying more because he wants to help us," Aunt Cass answers.

"H-He what?" Tadashis gapes down at the phone screen, astonished.

"I know!" Aunt Cass lets out a laugh that sounded like she didn't quite trust her own ears. "You remember his grandson, Lance?"

"Yeah, I think so," Tadashi agrees, remembering meeting Mr. Henderson's grandkids a couple of time but having a hard time placing an exact face with the name.

"It turns out that he came out of the closet a couple of years ago with his boyfriend, Keith," Aunt Cass continues. "His family has been extremely supportive, and when Mr. Henderson heard that we were having problems because of a similar situation, he said that he wanted to help-he's even offering to help with the packing and moving!"

"Y-you're kidding me," Tadashi whispers, pressing a hand to his mouth.

"I'm not!" Aunt Cass reassures him. "And there's even better news!"

"T-there is?" Tadashi seemed completely flabbergasted.

"Yes!" Aunt Cass agrees eagerly. "I didn't want to say anything until I'd heard something more certain, but I got a call from Mr. Lee yesterday."

"Oh yeah, he said that he would be calling you!" Fred pipes up, glad to hear that his father had actually followed through on his promise.

"You didn't tell me!" Tadashi cries.

"Sorry!" Fred blushes slightly. "It slipped my mind…"

"All right, I'll forgive you," Tadashi sighs playfully before asking Aunt Cass, "So, what did he say?"

"He said-It's almost too good to be true, but he said he has a corner spot that he's been trying been trying to find tenants for for a long time and that he thinks would be perfect for the cafe! He even said that he wouldn't expect rent, at least not to begin with-that he'd consider it an 'investment', meaning that in exchange for letting us use the space and helping us turn it into a cafe, he'd just take a small portion of the cafe's earnings as compensation. It was a very reasonable offer-much more than I could have ever expected!

"T-that's so great!" Tadashi is positively beaming now. "So that covers selling the farm and finding a place for the cafe! Now if we can just find a house-"

"Oh, that's the best part about this cafe-it has a house built over it, and we'll be allowed to live there!" Aunt Cass tells him, and Fred could only imagine that the grin on her face matched the one on his own.

"I-This doesn't even seem possible," Tadashi whispers, shaking his head as if trying to convince himself that he wasn't in the middle of some dream. "T-things don't just fall together like this…"

"They do when God is looking out for you," Aunt Cass answers firmly. "Don't question it, sweetie, just be grateful that we apparently have a whole army of guardian angels looking out for us."

"Yeah…" Tadashi smiles over at Fred in a way that made the fanboy's stomach flip completely over.

"So, how's Hiro?" the elder Hamada asks, changing the subject and sounding eager for any news about his younger brother.

"Oh, he's… fine." Even Fred could register the sudden change in Aunt Cass' voice from cheerful, almost gleeful, to cautious and slightly guarded.

"Aunt Cass?" Tadashi's own tone changes to concerned and serious. "What's going on?"

"I-Oh, sweetie, I really don't want to worry you, you're dealing with so much already…"

"Aunt Cass, tell me what's going on." The words came out as a cross between an order and a plea, and Fred could see just how worried Tadashi appeared, his eyes filled with worry and his hand gripping the edge of his seat so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"It's just… Hiro got into a fight today," Aunt Cass finally answers quietly.

"A-a fight?" Tadashi cries in disbelief. "H-how is that even possible? Did someone come to the farm? Because if they did, you could have them arres-"

"No, sweetie, not on the farm," Aunt Cass sighs. "We went into town today-I knew that was slightly risky, but we needed some supplies, especially with the move. I thought it was bad enough that practically everyone was glaring at us and whispering when we passed by them, but we just kept our heads high and went about our business. I was so caught up in finding what we needed and getting out of there that I didn't even really think twice when Hiro asked if he could go down to the hardware store to look for something. It wasn't until I'd actually left the grocery store that I realized he hadn't come back, and I started worrying about him. I was about to panic and call the police because I knew no one else would help me look, but then he finally came stumbling up the street. He wouldn't tell me exactly what had happened-he said that he'd tripped and fallen-but from what I could see he's bruised up pretty badly… His lip was even bleeding… Oh my gosh, Tadashi, I'm so sorry, I wish I could have done more to protect him, but he won't even talk to me and I don't know what to do…"

Fred feels a twisting in his gut-what kind of sick person hurts an innocent kid like that?! Next to him, he could see Tadashi practically boiling with rage.

"Those bastards…" he growls angrily. "How dare they… Have you gone to the police?"

"Yes," Aunt Cass answers quietly. "And they won't do anything. They even implied that if they thought Hiro was… was queer as well that they'd…"

"Oh my God…" Tadashi gasps, his eyes going wide with horror.

All right, Fred had had enough of this-it was time to take matters into his own hands.

"Aunt Cass?" he says, taking the phone from Tadashi. "It's Fred. Look, the more I'm hearing, the more I'm getting the picture that it's not safe for either you or Hiro to be there."

"No, I'm fine!" Aunt Cass answers stubbornly. "I know how to take care of myself! But Hiro…" She trails off uncertainly.

"Right, it's not safe for him especially," Fred acquiesces. "So here's what I'm suggesting. First things first, if you think you're going to be okay being on your own for a little bit-maybe even see if those neighbors of yours will be willing to stay with you until this is over-I want you to help Hiro pack his bare essentials and then I am going to get him on the next flight out here. Then I am going to find you the best possible moving service and send them over first thing tomorrow to help you pack your things and then get you out of that town as quickly as possible. I know that there's a lot of paperwork and stuff you'll have to deal with for selling the farm, but I really don't think it's safe for you guys to stay there any longer, and you can always work stuff out using electronic means or even the mail if you have to."

"I... " Aunt Cass sounds at a loss for words.

"Look, you don't have to do anything except for call your neighbors and get Hiro to the airport-I swear I will take care of everything else," Fred promises. "All you have to do is say 'yes'. You guys are my family now, and I'm not going to let you guys get hurt if I can help it."

When Aunt Cass doesn't say anything, Tadashi finally answers for her: "Yes."

"All right then." Fred nods his head, feeling somehow calm and in control despite the fact that this situation almost warranted panic. "I'll send you the flight ticket and everything else as soon as I have it booked, all right? Just start getting Hiro ready to leave."

"O-okay," Aunt Cass agrees, her voice sounding thick, as if she was fighting back tears.

"...Do you need me to call your neighbors for you?" Fred offers, realizing that she probably wasn't in any condition to try to talk on the phone.

"I'll do it," Tadashi speaks up. "I have know their number-Fred, will you stay on the line with Aunt Cass until I get ahold of them and know that they're on their way?"

"Of course," Fred agrees. He can see Tadashi's fingers shaking as he borrows the fanboy's phone and makes the call. Mr. Henderson and his wife sounded slightly surprised to hear the elder Hamada on the phone, but as soon as they heard what the situation was, they promised to head right over to the Hamada's farm, Mrs. Henderson even saying that she'd bring the casserole that she had in the oven to make sure that they actually ate, and Fred silently blessed them and decided that he really did believe in guardian angels after all. As soon as Tadashi hung up, they traded phones, the elder Hamada taking his turn talking to his aunt and Fred finding the soonest flight. It was already seven pm in Texas, and he needed to allow the family time to get Hiro packed and to the airport, so he chose one that left out at eleven pm. He didn't like that it was a full four hours that Hiro would be stuck in that town, but he comforts himself with the fact that two or three hours would probably be spent in traveling to the airport and getting to the flight, plus that there were neighbors there to help protect that family. He wasn't completely at his ease leaving Aunt Cass by herself at the farm either, but there wasn't much he could do about that and he felt that she really did know how to defend herself if the worst came to the worst.

The fanboy is just finished making the flight reservations and sending the ticket to Aunt Cass when he looks over to see Tadashi hanging up the cell phone.

"The Hendersons are there," he says quietly, his voice tight as if trying to keep all of his emotions in check. "So th-they should be okay for now…"

"That's good." Fred reaches over and wraps a loving arm around Tadashi's shoulders, and, not completely to his surprise, his boyfriend starts crying.

"I-I'm so scared," he whispers. "What if something had happened to either of them? What if something does happen to them?!"

"Dashi, they are safe right now, and nothing is going to happen to them, okay?" Fred pulls him closer, wrapping his arms around him tightly. "Hiro is going to be here soon, and you know that your aunt is a tough lady-she can take care of herself. Before you know it, your whole family is going to be out here and you're all going to be together again and it will be amazing!"

"Yeah?" Tadashi looks up at him, desperate for reassurance.

"Yeah," Fred agrees firmly, kissing him on the forehead.

"T-the cafe, though-we don't know if it's ready to be moved into yet, what are we going to do until-" Tadashi starts to ask.

"Sh." Fred kisses him again, this time pecking him on the lips. "Look, if it's not ready, your family can stay at my house until it is."

"But your parents-"

"Will be fine with it, especially given the circumstances. You don't think my dad would be helping your aunt out this much and then not be okay with your family crashing with us for a little bit, do you?"

"I-I guess that makes sense…" Tadashi mumbles.

"See?" Fred rubs his arms. "Everything is going to be alright. What I suggest now is we go get that food we ordered and then head back to the house to eat and get in a couple of hours of sleep so we can be awake to pick up Hiro, okay?"

"T-that's right, we had plans for tonight…" Tadashi says guiltily. "If you still want to go-"

"Dashi." Fred holds his shoulders and looks him right in the eyes. "I love you. And I love your family. And if it means helping any of you, I will do whatever it takes, no matter what it costs, okay? Missing one Shakespearean play is nothing compared to knowing that I'm helping protect your brother."

"...I love you," Tadashi whispers, tightening his grip around him.

"I love you too," Fred answers, hugging him back before calling Heathcliff to alert him to the change of plans. This was going to be a long night, yes. But like he'd told Tadashi, to him, in the end it would be totally worth it.


	6. Chapter 6

((TRIGGER WARNINGS: Major homophobia, Some violence and threatened sexual harassment to main character))

Hiro didn't know it was possible for his whole life to be turned upside down so quickly. On Monday, things had started out completely normal-just another day working on his family's farm, and considering his brother was home for the summer and his aunt had promised fresh blueberry muffins for lunch, things were looking pretty good. Then he came back to the house after spending the morning mucking out the stalls in the barn only to find his pastor (a guy he'd never really liked, he just gave him the creeps for more reason than one) in the house yelling at his aunt because she was letting her nephew openly live as a "fag". Hiro honestly had no idea what that meant, and he tried to think of anything he could have done recently to piss the guy off (and no, he wasn't above a practical joke or two to mess with the preacher-hey, he deserved it with a lot of the things he'd done.) Only it turned out that the pastor wasn't talking about him-he was talking about Tadashi. Hiro had honestly been shocked-his brother was the most devout Christian he knew and he never so much as stepped a toe out of line, how the hell had he managed to get on the preacher's bad side? As he gathered when he was dragged into the living room and pretty much given the gestapo treatment about what he knew about his brother's relationship with Fred, the farmhand they'd hired on for the summer, apparently the guy thought that Tadashi liked guys-like, _like_ liked them, with kissing and other stuff. Hiro was kind of momentarily shocked by that-hell, he didn't even know that was an option!-but as he thought back on how Fred and his brother acted together, it made sense. They were always acting like they were flirting with each other, even if he hadn't realized that they were doing it until now. He tried to decide if it bothered him at all, but honestly, he liked Fred, a lot better than that annoying Meg girl who was always trying to hit on his brother, so in the end he came to the conclusion that he was okay with it and he'd even tell Tadashi so-y'know, after making him squirm for not telling him about it earlier. And once he knew for sure that Tadashi and Fred were actually interested in each other and the pastor wasn't just making this all up.

As it turned out, Fred and Tadashi were actually dating. Hiro couldn't help but feel kind of grossed out when the pastor accused Dashi of "having relations" with the other man-seriously, you were going to say that in front of a kid? Well, teenager technically, but still! He did not need to know the specifics, especially not when it came to his brother's love life-that was his own business and he did not want to hear about that! Honestly, he couldn't understand why the preacher was making such a big deal out of this-God was all about love and he didn't see why He'd be opposed to two people being in love with each other just because they were the same gender, especially when one of them was as strong of a Christian as Tadashi (he didn't know about Fred, but he suspected that the other man felt about as uncomfortable in the church as he did, although Fred hadn't even encountered some of the things he had.)

Honestly, Hiro was still hating himself for not defending his brother more-or, y'know, at all-but he'd been a little freaked out by all the screaming and the yelling and froze. Fortunately Fred and Aunt Cass had stepped up and taken care of things, which was a relief. After his aunt had been a total badass and kicked the creep out of the house, he hadn't been able to resist needling his brother a bit for keeping this a secret from him, but honestly he couldn't be too mad at him given he'd probably known that that bastard was going to do if he ever found out (not that Hiro would ever tell, but maybe his brother had thought he'd freak out too.) They'd just settled down to lunch and the younger Hamada was thinking that things were going to be fine (after all, now he could totally mess with his brother about the fact that he had a-wait, what was Fred? Tadashi's boyfriend? That sounded a little weird, but, whatever he was, he was totally going to mess with both of them as much as he could-in a totally loving way, of course.) But then out of the blue the police had shown up and, after trying to stick both Tadashi in Fred in jail, Hiro suddenly found his world upended again when his aunt declared that they were moving to SF. Sure, Hiro had always dreamed about living there someday, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon or so suddenly. It wasn't like he wanted to be a farmer for the rest of his life, but his entire life up to this point had happened on or around this farm, and he didn't know how he felt about leaving that all behind. What was even worse, though, was when Aunt Cass announced that Tadashi was going to have to leave town that same day to prevent getting locked up. It made sense, and Hiro didn't want his _nii-chan_ behind bars, but he'd honestly gone completely numb when he heard that. Tadashi was more than just his nerdy older brother. He was his friend. His best friend. His only friend, when it came down to it. Well, maybe Fred counted as one now? No, he was mad at Fred-mad at him for apparently kissing Tadashi and doing whatever else with him that made the pastor want to kick his brother out of town and uproot his entire family. But he couldn't be mad at Fred for long-if Tadashi really liked guys, this would have happened some time or another, whether it was with Fred or some other man. His stupid brother couldn't keep his feeling under wraps no matter how hard he tried. That's one of the things Hiro both loved and hated about him. Less than two hours after that, his brother was climbing into his old pickup truck with Fred, his most valuable worldly possessions stashed in the back seat, and disappearing in a cloud of dust, driving 1,734 miles away from him, all the way to California.

It wasn't like Hiro hadn't been away from his brother before. Hell, Tadashi had been gone at college for almost an entire year, for crying out loud, only coming home for Christmas! But that still didn't make him miss him any less now that he'd left again, especially since he hadn't had any time to prepare himself-there'd barely been time to say "goodbye", his nii-chan had just been there one second and then gone the next. If anyone had asked him if he had spent the rest of the day and a good part of the next curled up on his brother's bed with a soft grey sweater of Tadashi's that had been accidentally left behind in the closet and crying, he would have outright denied it. But he would have been lying.

Eventually Hiro had switched from full-on depression to just a general numbness. He knew he should be helping with the packing and everything, but it was hard to convince himself to do anything when he felt so lifeless. News that the Hendersons were willing to buy the farm and that someone named Mr. Lee (apparently Fred's dad) had found them a place to start a cafe and also live were bright spots for him-they were signs that he was getting closer to seeing his brother again. Still, the way his aunt was talking, it might still be a month or more before they actually moved out to SF, and that was way too far away to be terribly comforting.

When his aunt had said that she needed to go into town to get some supplies and asked if he wanted to come along, he'd agreed, if nothing else but for a welcome distraction. He'd asked to go to the hardware store, partially because he wanted to see if they'd gotten in any new parts he could use, partially because it was one of his and Tadashi's favorite spots and he hoped that the familiar smell of sawdust and oil would help him feel like his brother was still there with him. Unfortunately, he'd never actually gotten to the hardware store. Outside of the post office, he'd been accosted by some older boys from school. Most of the kids in town avoided him because he was "different"-as a genius, he was a curiosity at best, a freak to most. He didn't mind being alone as long as he knew that he had his older brother who cared about him. What he did mind (despite his best efforts not to) were the guys who took it upon themselves to make his life a living hell just because he was smart and wouldn't do their dirty work for them. Tadashi had always been there to defend him when he was home, and last year while he was away the younger boy had managed to slip under the radar-maybe they got bored without someone to fight who could actually fight back (it wasn't that Hiro didn't try, he just wasn't that strong and he couldn't help being ridiculously skinny and short since he hadn't hit his growth spurt.) But today, with the news of the fact that Tadashi Hamada was a queer buzzing around the town, apparently the jerks had decided that his younger brother was a suitable target again, and they'd dragged him off into a back alleyway. They'd beat him up, calling him names, accusing him of being a "fag" as well. Hiro didn't mind them insulting him, but when they'd started in on trashing his precious niisan, they'd lit a fire in him that caused him to fight back twice as hard. Unfortunately, all that had gotten him was a bloody lip and a couple of bruised ribs. For one terrifying moment, the biggest of the group had pinned him down, threatening to do things to him that would "cure" him of ever wanting to be with another man. But fortunately one of his lunkhead cronies had reminded him that if he did that then he'd be kicked out of town too, and so the bastard had let Hiro go, saying that he wasn't worth it. Poor Hiro had been left, shivering and crying, in the alleyway, scared to try to move because it hurt so much but too afraid not to because those guys might change their minds and come back to finish the job. He'd limped along main street back to his aunt's truck, hoping that he'd be safe there. Not one person stopped to help him. No one asked if he was alright or even seemed worried by the fact that he looked like he'd just been beaten to a pulp, which he had. It turned his stomach and made something inside of his heart shrivel up and turn into a cold, black mass. All of this, just because his brother was in love with another man. All of this because these religious pricks somehow thought that they were doing "the right thing", as if they believed that if they hurt them enough somehow they'd convince them that they were wrong? Well fuck them. Fuck this entire town and their stupid religion! If the "God" they claimed was so good wanted the people who worshipped him to hurt innocent people like Tadashi just because they loved someone-something they couldn't even choose-then he was done with all of it. His world had become a significantly darker place, and his already shaky faith in humankind had been shattered. The only people he could trust were his aunt, possibly Fred, and his beloved nii-chan, and the rest of the world could go to hell.

When he'd finally stumbled his way back to the pickup, Aunt Cass was there, looking worried. She looked even more worried-panicked, almost-when she saw the condition that he was in, but he'd refused to say anything, just climbing up into the passenger side and pulling the hood of his hoodie (a hand-me-down of Tadashi's) up over his face, determined to block everything out. When he'd gotten home, he'd quietly helped carry in the groceries because he knew it was expected of him before retreating to his and Tadashi's room-the one place where he knew that he'd be safe. A while later, he could hear Aunt Cass talking on the phone. From the gist of what she was saying, it sounded like she was talking to Tadashi. At first he wanted to go down there, to hear his niisan's voice, but he just didn't have the energy or the will to move. From what he could hear, it sounded like Tadashi was having a good time with Fred in SF. He couldn't hold that against him. His brother deserved to be happy, even if he was completely miserable. Still, there was only so much cheerfulness he could take before he finally had to block it out, curling up with his brother's sweater again, inhaling the scent in deeply like it was a drug that would numb the pain and even more so wishing that he was dead to the world.

About half an hour later, he heard more voices downstairs. At first fear seized in his chest-what if it was someone else who had come to hurt his family? Before he can panic too much, though, he identified the speakers as Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. Well, he was at least pretty sure he could trust them. He was just going back to silently trying to wish away the rest of the world when he hears the sound of his door opening.

"Aunt Cass, I'm not really up to seeing anyone," he mumbles, knowing who it probably was and thinking that she wanted him to come down and try to be social.

"Sweetie, I know," his aunt answers, sitting down next to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm really sorry to do this, but… I need you to get up."

"Is it an emergency?" he asks, his voice mumbled by the sweater fabric and determined not to move unless it was.

"Of sorts," Aunt Cass replies, her voice strained. "We need to get you packed."

"Packed?" This response was so unexpected that he actually looks up at her.

"I-I talked to your brother and Fred, and we all agreed," Aunt Cass says quietly, as if this was taking great effort for her. "It's not safe for you here anymore-not after today. So… We're sending you out to stay with them in SF." Seeing his shocked expression, she adds, "I'll be out there as soon as I can! And please don't think I'm abandoning you or trying to send you away. I- I just couldn't live with myself if I let you stay here and something happened to you."

Hiro knew that he probably should have been feeling bad about leaving his aunt here alone to deal with everything, especially with how sad she looked. But, his heart filled with hope at the idea of seeing his brother again, the only thing that comes out of his mouth is, "How soon do I leave?"

That's how he found himself at the airport three hours later, hugging his aunt goodbye just outside the doors. He was sad to be leaving her, but the truth was that he didn't know what would have happened if he'd been forced to stay in that town any longer. Packing had been a bit arduous-he hadn't been allowed to bring any of his tools or inventing stuff because those things "weren't allowed" on the plane. He was a bit worried about leaving them to be packed by his aunt and the strangers who were apparently going to help with the move, but there wasn't much he could do about it, and besides, being back with Tadashi totally overshadowed that. What he had done was shove in all of his inventing journals wherever he could fit them around the clothes in his duffel bag. These were without a doubt his most treasured possessions-every birthday since he'd been old enough to hold a pencil, Tadashi had given him a journal to fill up with his ideas and plans for inventions, and every year he strove to fill it completely up with new ideas, to prove both to himself and his brother that he could do it. He was well on his way to finishing with this year's one, and he'd packed it on top of everything else so that he could pull it out on the plane if he got any ideas.

"Love you, Aunt Cass," he tells his aunt as she finally lets him go. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay," Aunt Cass agrees,looking like she was holding back tears, before pulling him into one more quick embrace. "Last hug," she whispers.

"Last hug," Hiro agrees, hugging her back before heading through the doors and into the airport. He never even looked back.

Even though he'd never flown before, Hiro knew some things from listening to Tadashi, plus he'd googled everything he could about first-time flying after he'd finished packing, so he was somewhat prepared for what everything that happened next. He had one duffle bag and a small backpack on him, so with one carry-on allowed and one "personal item", he didn't have to deal with checking any baggage. Going through security was a rather stressful process-he'd heard conflicting stories about what exactly you were supposed to do, and as the people at the gates barked instructions at him he couldn't help but feel both slightly scared and a little bit annoyed. It wasn't like he was trying to do anything wrong, he just didn't know what he was supposed to do, geeze!

He thought he was home free once he was into the main part of the airport, but it turned out that his troubles weren't over yet by a long shot. There were a million people swarming past like ants in a colony, and everyone seemed to know where they were going but him. He was just staring up at the signs that were supposed to tell him where he was supposed to go but ended up only serving to confuse him even more with trepidation when suddenly a friendly looking elderly gentleman with a name tag that read "Wayne Kresky", driving what looked like a golf cart, pulls to a stop next to him.

"Are you alright, young man?" he asks in a slightly gravelly voice.

For a moment Hiro wanted to say that he was fine, that he didn't need any help (you couldn't blame him for being a bit wary of other people, especially strangers, with everything he'd been through in the past few days) but he realizes that he was completely out of his depth and so he finally relents and admits that he's lost.

"Let me see your boarding pass," the man says, reaching out a hand, and while Hiro was initially reluctant to let it go, he can only hope that since this guy appeared to work for the airport that it was okay and so he holds it out to him.

"Ah, gate 223B," the elderly gentleman says after briefly scanning it. "That's right on my way! Care for a ride?"

"I… Um…" Hiro again considered saying "no", but the man's sparkling blue eyes were friendly and open, somehow making him feel like he could trust him, and so after a moment of internal wrestling, he answers, "Y-yeah, thanks."

"Climb aboard, then!" Wayne tells him, gesturing to the seat next to him.

Hiro does so, and a moment later they're taking off down the airport corridor at a speed the younger boy seriously had to doubt was supposed to be allowed, weaving in and around crowds of people..

"W-whoa, where did you get your license to drive this thing?" Hiro cries, hanging on for dear life.

"License?" Wayne gives him a playful smirk. "Who said anything about a license?"

Despite his fears, the older man does get the teen safely to his waiting area.

"Here you go," he says, looking proud of himself as he jerks to a stop. "Told you I'd get you here, didn't I?"

"Y-Yea," Hiro agrees, slightly shaken still but also grinning-that had probably been one of the coolest things he had ever done.

"Just take a seat over there on one of those benches and they'll call you when it's time to board, all right?" Wayne tells him with a warm smile.

"O-okay, thanks!" Hiro answers, giving him a grateful look. "And thanks for the ride!"

"My pleasure!" Wayne gives him a friendly wink before taking off down the corridor.

Hiro takes a seat at the far end of a bench, as far away from everyone else as he could manage. It wasn't like he expected them to suddenly mob him-they didn't even know him! But that still didn't mean that he necessarily wanted to be near them. He needed to conserve whatever social energy that he actually had left in his body for when he was on the plane and forced into close proximity with all these other people for a good four hours.

Not sure what to do until the plane started boarding in about thirty minutes (and he knew from what he'd read that boarding could be delayed, even up to an hour) he decides to check his phone for messages. As it turned out, he had a lot of missed ones from Tadashi, and he checks them. All were from in the last hour or so, apologizing for not contacting him sooner but saying that he'd been trying to get everything set up for his arrival. The younger boy couldn't help but smile at that. He usually laughed at his nii-chan for being such a worry wart, but it actually felt kind of nice knowing that he hadn't been forgotten and that his older brother was going to be taking care of him, just like old times. He sends back a reply, reassuring him that he was fine, that he had gotten to the right terminal safely, and that he would be boarding soon. The next reply is a bit delayed, and this time it's from Fred, saying that he'd taken Tadashi's phone away so that he'd actually get some sleep in before coming to pick Hiro up at the airport but reassuring him that he'd pass along the news and telling him that they both couldn't wait to see him when he arrived. It was slightly disappointing not to hear from his nii-chan again, but it was good knowing that Fred was forcing him to take care of himself. Beyond that, it was also kind of nice hearing the other man saying that he was going to be happy to see him as well. While he wouldn't admit this out loud, at least not yet, Hiro did kind of see Fred as an older brother and, considering he was getting him out to SF to see his actual brother? He was definitely vying for a high position on the teen's list of favorite people (and it wasn't a very long list at that.)

Eventually, after what felt like both too long and too short of a wait, someone announces that Hiro's flight is boarding and he gets up to join the queue of people that is forming. It takes a frustratingly long time to actually get to his seat, and once there he struggles to get his dufflebag up into the overhead compartment. Fortunately, a tall, muscular man comes along and helps him get it in safely. As it turns out, he's his seat mate for the flight, and as they sit down (he's nice enough to give Hiro the window seat after asking which he'd preferred) he introduces himself as Kronk. It was a funny name, but given his own was Japanese, Hiro really couldn't say anything about it. Kronk was a very friendly guy, as it turned out, and while he seemed to talk a lot, it was in a way that Hiro didn't mind listening to considering he wasn't really expected to do much more than smile and nod at the appropriate places. The man even offers him some gum for the takeoff, but the teen reassures him that he has his own (the guy might be nice, but there was still something to be said for not taking food from strangers, no matter how friendly they might be.) Takeoff wasn't really a problem for Hiro like it might be for first time flyers. He understood the mechanics of planes enough to know that he was perfectly safe. If anything, it was exhilarating and he almost wishes it wasn't so dark so he could watch properly as the ground dropped away from underneath them and they climbed up into the sky.

Soon after the flight levels out, Kronk falls asleep, as do many of the other passengers. Hiro, though, found himself much too wide awake to follow their example, and so he pulls out his notebook to start working on the designs his latest pet project. He called the little robots microbots. They could be controlled by a neurocranial transmitter fashioned in the shape of a headband to make and do literally anything that the wearer could imagine. He spends a happy hour or so sketching on them until his brain starts wandering to other ideas. After everything that had happened over the past few days, he couldn't help but feel a great sense of injustice, like someone needed to do something to right all of these wrongs in the world-to defend all of these people who were getting hurt. That thought firmly in his mind, he begins sketching out very detailed plans for a superhero suit which incorporated the microbots as its means of defense for taking out the bad guys. Even if he knew he'd probably never build it (Aunt Cass would kill him if he went vigilante), it was intensely gratifying imagining what he'd do if he did. He hadn't even realized that he'd dozed off until he woke up, hours later, to hear a voice telling him over the loudspeaker that the plane was preparing to descend and that all chairs and trays needed to be in the upright position. His head still felt slightly fuzzy from his impromptu nap, but when he looks out the windows and sees the lights of SF glowing down beneath them, he feels his heart leap slightly. Even though he'd never been there before, somehow, deep down inside his soul, he knew that this was exactly where he was meant to be.

About twenty minutes later, the plane touches down at the San Fransokyo International Airport. As before the flight, only in reverse, Kronk helps Hiro get his bag down from the overhead compartment. Seeing that the teen was a minor flying alone, the man asks if he had someone waiting for him, which the teen reassures him that he does, thanking him politely for all of his help (Aunt Cass had raised her boys with manners, even if they both were introverts.)

It's surprisingly empty out in the airport after the crush of traffic at the first one, but Hiro guesses that it's because it's 3:30 am (well, 1:30 am if you went by California time-this would take some getting used to.) Fortunately, he's able to just follow the trail of people who had exited the flight before him out to the pick-up area.

For a minute Hiro feels slightly scared, clutching his bags to him. He was in a strange city in the middle of the night, with bright lights glaring down on him that only made everything seem that much more terrifying and confusing, and he wasn't sure where exactly his brother was or if he was even there yet. What if he was in the wrong place? What if it took a while for him to find him and something bad happened to him while he was waiting all by himself?

He needn't have worried, though. About sixty seconds after exiting the door, he suddenly hears a faint voice that was growing ever louder shouting, "Otouto! Otouto!"

Approximately thirty seconds later, by the time he had figured out the general direction that it was coming from, he finds himself being scooped up and crushed into a tight, Tadashi-smelling hug.

"Hiro!" his brother cries, spinning him around in his eagerness. "You're here! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're actually here!"

Whatever else that his brother had to say was drowned out as Hiro just hugs his brother back, listening to the steady beating of his heart in his chest. Home. He was finally back with his niisan, and he was home again.


	7. Chapter 7

Tadashi probably wouldn't have actually gotten any sleep if it hadn't been for Fred. As soon as the fact that Hiro was coming out to SF had been confirmed, the elder Hamada had gone into full panic mode, determined to have everything perfect for his arrival. It was quickly agreed after some minor consultation that Hiro would share Tadashi's quarters for the foreseeable future, or at least until the cafe/house Fred's dad had found was ready for them to move into. For Fred, that would have been the end of it-the matter of where Hiro would be staying/sleeping had been settled, and aside from maybe getting an extra bed put in there (although Fred liked to think that hopefully Tadashi would still continue sleeping with him, at least until Aunt Cass arrived), there really wasn't much to do except for wait for the plane to get in. Tadashi, on the other hand, had insisted on actually finally inspecting the rooms in detail, anxiously fidgeting with everything to try to make it seem more like "home" for Hiro, although there really wasn't much in the way of changes that could be made.

"Dashi, you're going to wear yourself out before he even gets here," Fred says, finally taking him firmly by the shoulders. "And you're not getting anything accomplished."

"I just hate feeling so useless-I feel like I should be doing _something_!" Tadashi cries. "My little brother was attacked, and you and Aunt Cass have been doing all of the hard work while I've just been sitting idly by! I'm his nii-chan-I need to feel like I'm actually doing something to try to help!"

Fred wanted to argue with him, telling him that just being there, even in spirit, as support was more than enough. But he could tell that his boyfriend was going to be stubborn, and so he tried a different track. "All right. What could we do to make this room feel more welcoming to Hiro?"

That was enough to at least get Tadashi to calm down for five seconds while he thought that through.

"I'm assuming we need to leave the room pretty much the same?" he sighs.

"Well…" Fred considers this. "For the most part, yeah-we can't repaint or anything. But I think that if you wanted to put up a poster or two and we used tape so it didn't mark the walls up, that would be fine!"

"Really?" This new piece of information seemed like a major revelation to Tadashi.

"What sorts of things is he into?" Fred asks, glad to have found something productive that his boyfriend could channel some of the excess energy into.

"Well…" Tadashi considers this. "He likes inventing, of course, but I know that's definitely not going to be able to happen here. I do still have my office at the lab at SFIT so I was thinking I could set something up there for him until we had somewhere more permanent."

"That works," Fred agrees with a nod. "Now how about things we can actually incorporate into this room?"

"He always has liked video games," Tadashi answers. "We didn't have access to a whole lot on the farm and we didn't have a lot of time to 'waste' on them, but playing them was something Hiro liked to do if he did have some extra time."

"Good, that's definitely heading in the right direction!" Fred agrees eagerly. "Do you know if there were any games in particular that he liked?"

"I feel there was one, but I can't remember the details," Tadashi answers, frowning in concentration. "I think it involved Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters and this kid with spiky hair and some sort of key sword?"

"The key blade!" Fred cries. "Oh man, he's into _Kingdom Hearts_!"

"Yeah, that sounds right!" Tadashi agrees before asking curiously, "You know it?"

"The games _and_ the manga!" Fred replies proudly.

"Okay, wow, there's apparently a lot more to this than I realized…" Tadashi says with a nervous chuckle.

"All right, so we have _Kingdom Hearts_ ," Fred continues, trying to keep the ball rolling. "What about movies?"

"U-um… He loves superhero movies, especially Marvel," Tadashi answers. "And pretty much my entire family loves Disney-I think Hiro's favorites are _Wreck-It Ralph_ and _Lilo and Stitch_."

" _Lilo and Stitch_?" Fred asks curiously.

"He says Nani and Lilo remind him of us," Tadashi replies with a slight smile.

"Okay, that is ridiculously adorable!" Fred can't help but grin at that.

"I'm trying to think of anything else… He's pretty into _Star Wars_ ," Tadashi finally says before shaking his head. "That's all I can think of off the top of my head. If I had some more time…"

"It's a really good start," Fred reassures him. "And, luckily, I know just the place we can go to get stuff that works for all of those!"

"Really?" Tadashi asks curiously. "Where?"

"How about I just show you?" Fred answers with a slight smile.

About an hour later, they're pulling up outside of a small brick building with the words "Toybox Comics" written in bold letters across the front.

"What is this place?" Tadashi asks, his brow furrowing with curiosity.

"Nerd heaven!" Fred answers with a grin. "It's my favorite comic book shop in the entire city, and I know we'll find lots of great stuff for you guys' room!"

"Really?" Tadashi asks, looking excited.

"Totally!" Fred agrees. "I know the owners really, really well and I know they'll help us find everything we need to help Hiro feel at home here!"

"You are amazing," Tadashi declares, leaning over to kiss him firmly on the cheek.

"Well, I try!" Fred says, blushing but looking extremely pleased.

"C'mon, let's go!" Tadashi starts tugging eagerly on his arm.

"Right behind you!" Fred agrees with a laugh as he follows him out onto the sidewalk.

The _Star Wars_ theme song starts playing as they push the door open to the store, and Fred can't help but smile slightly at that. It was one of the many things that he loved about this place-they had the door chime set up to play various nerdy songs and rotated by week. Last time he had been here back in early May, it had been the theme of _Doctor Who_. It was almost like coming home stepping into this haven of all things nerdy and/or geeky, and he couldn't help but wonder how he'd managed to stay away so long.

"Fred!" His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name, and he grins as he turns to wave at the man standing behind the register, filling a new display of _Magic_ cards.

"Hey Andy!" he answers, waving enthusiastically back.

"Oh my gosh, I thought you were gone until the beginning of August or something!" the man (Andy, apparently) cries, dropping the box of cards and coming over.

"Well, some,.. Unforeseeable events transpired, and so I ended up finding it prudent to come home early," Fred answers, trying to be discreet for Tadashi's sake.

"I see." Andy raises an eyebrow. "Did you blow something up?"

"What? No!" Fred protests. "That was, like, one time! And how was I supposed to know that the ambassador would take it as a personal insult?"

"Okay, I know I shouldn't be, but now I'm really curious to hear this story," Tadashi admits with a slight laugh.

"Who's this?" Andy asks, looking over at the other man and apparently seeing him for the first time. "Friend of yours?"

"Boyfriend, actually!" Fred answers with a proud smile.

"Seriously? Congratulations!" Andy grins before turning to introduce himself. "I'm Andy-Andy Davis. I co-own this place with my wife, Hannah."

"Nice to meet you," Tadashi answers politely, shaking his hand. "I'm Tadashi Hamada. Fred was working on my family's farm for the summer until it got out that we were a gay couple and kind of got run out of town."

"Wait, seriously?" Andy's expression quickly shifts from friendly to horrified to angered. "T-that is completely fucked up!" As an afterthought, he adds, "If you'll pardon the language."

"No offense taken-I've heard worse, and yeah, it really is fucked up," Tadashi agrees.

"That's why we're back here-or, at least part of it," Fred adds. "Tadashi's staying with me until his family finishes moving out here."

"They're supportive, at least?" Andy asks hesitantly.

"Yes, thank goodness," Fred answers.

"That is good," Andy agrees with a relieved sigh. "That doesn't make any of that shit any less shitty, but it is something, at least. And you said they're moving out here to be with you?"

"They are," Tadashi confirms.

"That's actually why we're here," Fred adds.

"Really?" Andy raises a curious eyebrow before adding, "I'm all ears!"

"Tadashi's younger brother, Hiro, is actually flying in tonight because… Well, let's just say it's not safe for him to stay in the town anymore," Fred explains. "And we're trying to make the room they're staying in at my house feel more like 'home' for Hiro until they actually have a real house to move into and all of their things have been moved out here, and since it sounds like he's into a lot of nerdy stuff, I thought this would be the perfect place to come to find stuff that could help!"

"You've definitely come to the right place!" Andy agrees with a firm nod. "What all is he into?"

" _Kingdom Hearts_ , Marvel, Star Wars, and anything Disney, but especially _Wreck-It Ralph_ or _Lilo and Stitch_ ," Fred recites.

"How did you remember all of that?" Tadashi cries, looking at him in disbelief.

"Dude, I know the names of all of the Pokemon to date, including every evolution-I don't know why my brain works like it does, but when it comes to anything nerdy, I've got an almost picture-perfect memory," Fred laughs.

"It's true," Andy agrees. "I've heard him be able to recite entire episodes of _Doctor Who_ before!"

"No way!" Tadashi stares at his boyfriend with what looks like renewed respect.

"Yep!" Fred grins, glad that something which had ostracized him from so many people who had seen his odd nerdy abilities as something that marked him as a freak actually seemed to be something his boyfriend found impressive, if not slightly attractive.

"All right, let's get to work, shall we?" Andy says, breaking into the fanboy's thoughts. "We've got a room to decorate for a fellow nerd in need!"

"Lead the way!" Fred agrees, wrapping a loving arm around Tadashi's waist and lightly pulling him along as they head out to begin their foray into the shop.

About an hour later, they had virtually everything that they needed. Posters had been carefully to the point of painstakingly chosen. Mangas had been found (Fred pointed out that, if Hiro loved the games so much, he should have the entire written series as well), as had a few appropriate figurines (fortunately Disney had partnered with the Vinyl Pop company and created a lot of fun action figures which both Tadashi and Fred agreed that Hiro would love) and even an Avenger's themed fleece throw for the bed. Probably the thing that Fred was proudest of that they'd found, though, was the full-size replica of the keyblade from the first _Kindgom Hearts_ game (with a non-working blade, of course, but it still looked amazing.) While Tadashi had protested that it was too much, Fred told him that as his boyfriend it was his responsibility to spoil his younger sibling in an effort to curry extra favor with the teen so that he'd continue to be supportive of their relationship. The elder Hamada had pointed out that not only was that teaching a very poor lesson to the teen by making him think that affection could be "bought" and also that giving him a place to live should more than cover things in the "gratitude" department, but Fred pretended not to hear him.

"Y'know," Fred notes, lightly nudging him as they head up to the register, "we're decorating the room for Hiro, but it's your room too-isn't there anything that you want to kind of help make it more like home for you?"

"Fred, please, you're already doing way more than you probably should, and besides, as long as Hiro is happy in the room, I will be too," Tadashi responds firmly.

"Dashi." Fred puts a firm hand on his arm. "I'm being serious here-I want you to feel at home in my house for as long as you need to be there. You deserve to have something there that makes the room special for you as well."

"I promise, I'm fine," Tadashi tells him, lightly pecking him on the cheek. "Let's just stick with what we have and get heading home so we actually have time to decorate before Hiro gets here, okay?"

"Okay," Fred sighs. He really did want to do something that was special for his boyfriend, but if he was going to be stubborn there wasn't much he could do about it...

It seemed that fortune was shining upon them because just as the fanboy was about to cave, suddenly a lightly olive-skinned girl with shoulder length dark brown hair comes out of the stock room of the shop, carrying a large box and calling to Andy, "Sweetheart, we just got the new shipment of _My Little Pony_ comics-do you want me to go ahead and put them out on the shelves since the last issue sold out?"

"That would be great, Hannah," Andy agrees, turning to smile at her. "Only make sure that we fill all of the back orders before making them fair game for everyone!"

"Already taken care of!" Hannah promises.

Wait a minute! Fred's eyes narrow as he sees Tadashi twitch slightly at the mention of the comics, his eyes almost involuntarily trailing the box as Hannah carries the box over to the shelves. It was almost as if-

"Oh. No. Way!" The fanboy has to fight back a laugh as the truth become evident to him. "Tadashi Hamada, are you a _brony_?!"

"What? No! I have no idea what you're talking about!" Tadashi protests, but the intense blush on his face was more than enough evidence.

"C'mon, you know you can't lie to me!" Fred grins as he pecks him on the cheek.

"I… Aiko made me sit down and watch a few episodes with her and I kind of got hooked…" Tadashi admits, looking down at the floor in embarrassment and sounding slightly defensive. "It's a good show, okay?"

"Oh, sweetie, I'm not making fun of you!" Fred promises, wrapping his arms around his waist. "It's not my cup of tea, sure, but if it makes you happy, there's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"Y-yeah?" Tadashi finally looks up to give him an uncertain smile.

"Sure!" Fred agrees, lovingly tucking a lock of hair behind his boyfriend's ear. "Trust me, there's a lot worse things you could be into!"

"I guess that's true…" Tadashi agrees, seeming to relax slightly.

"Trust me, we have a lot-and I mean a LOT-of guys who come through here who are really into the show," Andy adds in. "And a lot of them are guys who are into Marvel and all the 'normal' nerd fandoms. Heck, my wife, Hannah has dragged me to conventions before, and while it's not my favorite show in the whole world, it's not half bad either. Discord's pretty cool, actually!"

"...I really like Apple Jack," Tadashi finally admits in a quiet voice. "She kind of reminds me of home…"

"Aw, that makes perfect sense, and it's actually really sweet!" Fred grins over at him before turning to Hannah and asking, "Where can we find your stock of pony items?"

"I'll be more than happy to show you!" she replies with a grin, waving for them to follow her.

"Oh my gosh, Fred, what are we doing?" Tadashi asks as his boyfriend starts dragging him after the woman.

"I told you that I'd find something to help my house feel more like home to you!" Fred answers firmly. "I think I found just the way to do that!"

"B-but Hiro can't know about this!" Tadashi protests, his eyes going wide with horror.

"Why not?" Fred asks curiously.

"I-I dunno, I just feel like he's already worried enough about me now that he knows that I'm gay… If he found out that I liked something that he'd probably view as a 'girl's show'..." Tadashi mumbles.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Fred turns to him and puts his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders. "Are you seriously worried that you're little bro is going to reject you because of all of this?"

"I mean, how could he not?" Tadashi answers, looking like he was fighting back tears. "It's because of me that my whole family is getting uprooted and forced to move away from the only home they've ever known, and then he got beat up because of me… I wouldn't be surprised if he hates me by now…"

"Oh, Dashi…" Fred's tone is comforting, even as he shakes his head at him. "You may be a genius, but sometimes you can be really stupid about things, you know that?"

"What?" Tadashi looks slightly caught off guard by that response.

"Tadashi, yes your aunt said that Hiro got into a fight because of you- you know Hiro, do you really think he'd fight for someone if he didn't think they were majorly important?" Fred answers with a slight smile.

"I-I guess not," Tadashi says slowly.

"And do you think that he'd be willing to come out here unless he really wanted to be with you?" Fred presses.

"Well, I guess he wouldn't…"

"Of course he wouldn't! Your little brother is, to use your aunt's words, 'a stubborn little cuss'-he doesn't do something unless he wants to," Fred declares. "And I watched him enough over the summer to see the way that he looks at you-you're like his own personal superhero or something. And when I was watching him after he found out about you and me? He seemed a little surprised at first, yeah. But after he'd gotten over that, he seemed just as if not even more in awe of you than before. I think he saw that you were willing to put everything on the line to do something you believed was right, and it inspired him."

"Yeah?" Tadashi's smile was embarrassed but genuine this time.

"Totally!" Fred agrees, grinning back at him.

"T-thank you," Tadashi says quietly, wrapping his arms tightly around his boyfriend. "I really, really needed to hear that…"

"You're welcome." Fred happily pecks the top of his head.

"Still…"

"Yes?"

"I know you keep telling me that I don't need to be ashamed of it, but Hiro would still tease me mercilessly if he found out, so could we maybe keep the pony thing just between us?"

"All right, fine, if you want it that way, I think I can keep that secret for you," Fred agrees, rolling his eyes but smiling all the same.

"Thank you." Tadashi gives him a grateful smile.

"So, in that case, we'll get you something small and unobtrusive-or, something you can keep in my room. Possibly both," Fred continues, as they finally reach the display.

"Whoa…" The fanboy can swear he sees his boyfriend's pupils dilating and hear him biting back what very much sounded like a "squee". Wow, Tadashi had it _bad_. Still, it was adorable to see him geeking out over something like this. Actually, given the whole horse and cute fluffy things obsession, in retrospect he probably should have seen this coming. It didn't make it any less adorable, though.

"All right, I'll be honest, I really don't know the characters in this show, so which one is Apple Jack?" Fred asks, looking over the display which seemed vibrantly alive with a rainbow of colors (geeze, did the one pony actually have a rainbow mane?)

"This one!" Tadashi smiles as he picks up a keychain with a small plastic figure of an orange pony with a cowgirl hat.

"Ah, should have guessed!" Fred chuckles, pointing to where there was the image of three small apples on the pony. "Seriously, I never got why they randomly have pictures matching their names on their flanks-that just seems a little weird to me…"

"They're called 'cutie marks', and they don't just match their names!" Tadashi protests. "It's like a right of passage-when they discover what they're special talent or purpose in life is, the mark appears to signify that they've kind of 'come of age'!"

"All right, I guess that kind of makes sense," Fred acquiesces. "But why apples?"

Okay, so maybe he really could have cared less about why a cartoon horse had apples on its rump, but Tadashi seemed so happy explaining everything that he couldn't resist continuing to ask questions just to keep him talking. In fact, it was so adorable that he kept it up until they were home and had finished decorating the room in preparation for Hiro's arrival, but after they'd finished dinner (Tadashi ended up loving the sushi-he liked both the nigiri and the spicy tuna rolls, but in the end the California rolls were his favorite, which seemed slightly appropriate), Fred insisted that his boyfriend get a few hours sleep before heading to the airport to pick up the teen.

"I don't know if I'll be able to calm down enough to sleep," Tadashi admits, bouncing slightly on the bed as he sends off yet another text to his brother's phone trying to check in with him and make sure that he'd gotten to the airport safely. "I'm so excited to see my otouto, you know?"

"I get it!" Fred chuckles before putting his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders while also surreptitiously stealing his boyfriend's phone. "But if you don't sleep now you'll feel like a zombie when it comes time to pick up your little bro."

"I know, I know," Tadashi sighs. "I just don't know if I'll be able to shut down enough to actually even doze off…"

"Maybe I can help?" Fred doesn't even realize how that had sounded until it had actually come out of his mouth.

"I-Um…" Tadashi's cheeks turn bright pink.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "I mean, I know we talked about that, but especially since we both need to actually sleep, I don't think we should-yeah. Not that I don't want to do it, but now just isn't the right time!"

"Right," Tadashi agrees with a relieved smile.

"Now, what I actually meant was I know that sometime when Hiro couldn't fall asleep I'd hear you down the hallway reading to him," Fred continues.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, did I keep you up?" Tadashi cries, looking slightly horrified by the thought.

"No, you didn't!" Fred reassures him. "I just had a hard time falling asleep near the beginning of the summer when I was still getting used to the place and so I'd just hear you and it would help me fall asleep too."

"Well, I'm glad that it at least didn't keep you up," Tadashi says.

"Right," Fred agrees. "And, I was thinking that maybe now I could return the favor?"

"I'd like that, actually," Tadashi answers after a moment's thought.

"Great!" Fred grins. "Show me where you are in the second _Harry Potter_ book and then you just kick your shoes off, lie down, and get comfortable while I read to you!"

"You are the sweetest boyfriend ever, you know that?" Tadashi says, grinning up at him even as he does as instructed.

"I can't be the sweetest boyfriend ever when my boyfriend already has that title," Fred lightly teases back as he picks up the book from the nightstand where Tadashi had left it that morning and then settles in next to him on the bed. "All right, chapter seven, page 118. 'It was nearly lunchtime and Harry had only had one bit of treacle fudge since dawn-'"

The fanboy got so caught up in his reading that he didn't even realize until he heard the soft snoring that Tadashi had already fallen asleep. Smiling slightly, he marks their place in the book before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to his boyfriend's forehead. "Love you, Dashi," he whispers softly. When he hears Tadashi's phone go off, he quickly checks the messages and, once he does, finds out that Hiro had indeed made it safely to the airport. Well, that was definitely a relief! He shoots off a quick text to the teen telling him what was going on letting him know that both he and Tadashi were excited to see him before closing his eyes and also drifting off.

A few hours later, Fred finds himself and Tadashi waiting in the pickup area just outside the airport.

"Do you see him?" Tadashi asks anxiously.

"Babe, calm down," Fred says, gently squeezing his arm. "He'll get out here when he gets out here. I know he's fine."

"But what if he got lost in the airport? What if he got lost and he's hurt or got mugged or something? Worse, what if his plane crashed on the way over here and it just hasn't hit the news yet? What if-"

"Tadashi." Fred presses his hand to his boyfriend's mouth to keep him from making any more horrible speculations."Breathe. Hiro is _fine_. He is going to be perfectly okay, and he's going to be out here any minute, and then we're going to take him back home and we're going to have an awesome time all hanging out together, 'kay?"

Tadashi reluctantly nods, and Fred takes that as the signal that he remove his hand. As soon as he's done that, the elder Hamada is instantly glued to the window again, desperately searching the crowd of departing passengers for any sign of his younger sibling. Then, moments later, his eyes light up and he cries, "There he is!"

"Go get 'im,Tiger," Fred jokes, although he's pretty sure that Tadashi didn't even hear him as he's already halfway out the door by then, shouting at the top of his lungs.

 _What a dork_ , Fred thinks with a warm smile. _But he's_ my _dork._

A few minutes later, Tadashi returns, his arms wrapped firmly around his younger brother who was looking slightly dazed, whether from the late hour or the fact that he was about to be riding in a limo for most likely the first time in his life, Fred couldn't tell.

"What the heck?" the younger boy mutters as his brother pulls him in through the open door, through which Fred could see Heathcliff carrying a duffle bag and backpack which the fanboy could only assume belonged to Hiro around to the trunk of the car.

"Hey, we had to pick you up in style, right?" Tadashi says, lovingly ruffling his sibling's hair.

"Style is one thing-this is _insane_!" Hiro cries.

"If I had my way, it would be a simple car or van, but my parents like to make a big show of things, so limo it is," Fred answers, shrugging slightly.

"This thing belongs to you _parents_?" Hiro asks incredulously.

"Yes," Fred answers, hoping that the younger boy wasn't about to freak out on him.

"...Sick," Hiro finally says, nodding in approval. "I could get used to this."

"I think you could start out by saying 'thank you' to Fred for being nice enough to help us out," Tadashi reminds him with a gentle nudge."

"Right!" Hiro nods and flashes Fred a grateful grin that the fanboy decides is genuine. "Thanks, Fred-for everything. Especially for getting me back to my nii-chan."

"Hey, I'm more than happy to help out my adopted family if there's anything I can do," Fred answers firmly.

"...How do I know you're not just doing this all to butter me up so I'll approve of you and Dashi kissing and stuff?" Hiro asks playfully.

"Is it working?" Fred returns evenly.

"That is a definite 'yes'," Hiro laughs even as Tadashi pulls him down onto the seat next to him as the limo starts moving..

The teen fell asleep on their way back to the mansion, something which Fred ended up enjoying immensely because he got to watch Tadashi cuddling the adorable little boy whom he had currently wrapped in his blazer as if it was a blanket. The only thing that lessened the sweetness of the scene was the bruises and cuts that marred the younger boy's face.

"We'll have the family doctor take a look at him tomorrow," Fred promises Tadashi, keeping his voice low so that he wouldn't wake the boy up.

"Fred, seriously-thank you," Tadashi whispers, leaning into him while still keeping a firm hold on his sibling. "Without you… I don't even want to think about what would have happened to me or my family…"

"Hey." Fred kisses his cheek firmly. "Don't even start thinking like that. The important thing is that nothing bad happened and everything is going to be okay, so don't go stressing yourself out. I love you, and I'm going to take care of you and your family no matter what, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, nuzzling into him. "I love you, Fred."

"I love you too, Dashi," Fred answers, leaning down to plant a loving kiss on his lips.

A little while later they arrive at the mansion, and while Heathcliff manages the bags, Tadashi insists on carrying Hiro inside himself. Marie and the rest of the staff had offered to stay up to greet Hiro, but, knowing that things would most likely turn out like this, Fred had told them that they could just do it in the morning when the teen would be more awake and so they had a quiet journey through the house to Hiro and Tadashi's room. The fanboy watches as his boyfriend tucks the younger boy into the bed before coming back over to join him.

"You going to spend the night in here with him?" Fred asks softly, knowing that his boyfriend probably wanted to keep an eye on the teen after everything that had happened.

"I…" Tadashi frowns slightly. "Part of me says that I should-it would be the responsible thing to do, and I don't want Hiro waking up in a strange room all alone, but…"

"But?" Fred asks, feeling his heart beat a little faster.

"Is it weird to say that I've honestly gotten used to sleeping in your bed and I really don't want to sleep without you tonight?" Tadashi admits quietly.

"I wasn't going to say anything if you wanted to be in here with Hiro, but yeah, I'm honestly feeling the same way," Fred admits.

"Do you think he'll be okay in here on his own?" Tadashi asks, glancing nervously back at his younger sibling.

"He'll probably sleep late anyways after having a day like today," Fred answers thoughtfully. "And we could always set an alarm so you could come back in here before he wakes up if you want to be on the safe side."

"That could work!" Tadashi agrees, looking visibly relieved before letting out a yawn.

"Yep, it's definitely time to get you to bed too," Fred tells him, lovingly taking his hand and starting to lead him towards his own room.

"'Kay," Tadashi agrees, not even bothering to argue.

They both kick off their shoes and then climb back into bed fully clothed like earlier, too tired to change.

"'Night Fred," Tadashi whispers, snuggling up against the fanboy.

"'Night Dashi," Fred answers as his boyfriend goes still against him. He had to admit, of all the situations of sleeping with a partner he'd ever imagined, certainly none of them had been like the ones he'd been experiencing with Tadashi over the past few days. And honestly? He was perfectly okay with that. This wasn't something out a romance novel or a particularly fluffy fanfiction. This was him and Tadashi, and he loved how things were with them just the way that they were.


	8. Chapter 8

Trigger Warning: Implied heavy fluff at end of chapter

0o0

Thanks to Fred's alarm, Tadashi was awake bright and early. He and and the other man trade soft "Good morning's", gently kissing each other before the elder Hamada got out of bed so that he could go check on Hiro. The man smiled as the taste of Fred's lips still lingers with him even as he closes the door softly behind him-he couldn't help but feel that he was falling more and more in love with his boyfriend every day, and he never wanted this to stop.

When he slowly opens Hiro's door, trying to be as quiet as possible, he found that the younger boy was still sound asleep. The poor thing was probably exhausted from the events of the previous day, and Tadashi couldn't help but feel a slight pang in his heart as he climbs into bed with him and wraps his arms around his sibling, fingers tracing over the scar that was already starting to form on the younger boy's cheek. Part of him wanted to blame himself-it was partially his fault that those little bastards had hurt his brother in the first place. But no-he hadn't done anything wrong, and neither had Hiro. This was all on those jerks and their stupid homophobic thinking. He was just glad that Fred had helped him get his little brother out of that toxic environment, and he was gratified to know that his aunt would soon be safely out of there as well. There wasn't much more he could do for her at this point, so he decided that, for now, he was just going to do his best to take care of Hiro and help him feel at home here.

He didn't even remember drifting off, but he the next thing he knew Hiro had him by the shoulder and was shaking him awake.

"Nii-chan? Nii-chan! Wake up!"

"H-Hiro?" Tadashi mumbles, trying to become cognizant again (apparently he was still slightly sleep deprived from the previous night's events.) "What is it? What's the matter?"

"I-I don't know where we are, but we're definitely not in our room!"

The panicked tone in the younger boy's voice was enough to make Tadashi snap back to alertness, and after a moment his brain worked out the most probable explanation for Hiro's fear.

"Otouto, it's okay," he says softly, pulling Hiro close to his chest. "We're at Fred's house-remember flying out here last night?"

"Fred's house…?" Hiro frowns in confusion before everything seemed to finally come back to him. "O-oh… So that wasn't a dream?"

"No, it definitely wasn't," Tadashi reassures him, lightly ruffling his hair. "You're here now, and you're safe."

"Y-yeah." Hiro gives him a slightly nervous smile before suddenly wrapping his arms tightly around his brother and burying his face into his chest. "I-I missed you," he manages to get out. "So much…"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Tadashi says soothingly, gently beginning to stroke the younger boy's hair even as his heart broke for the scared, almost lost sound in the teen's voice. Just how badly had his leaving affected him?

Still, before he could feel too guilty, Hiro looks up at him and, smiling, says, "But now we're back together, and that's all that matters, right?"

"Right!" Tadashi agrees enthusiastically, feeling relieved as he playfully pecks the top of his sibling's head, Hiro gently nuzzling into the contact before looking curiously around the room.

"Whoa…" he finally says softly. "This place is pretty sick…"

"You like it?" Tadashi asks eagerly.

"Like it? I love it!" Hiro declares.

"Well I'm glad!" Tadashi says with a grin. "Fred and I tried to decorate it with all the stuff you like!"

"You guys did this?" Hiro asks in disbelief. "Wow… Thank you… But you didn't have to go to all that trouble just for me…"

"We didn't have to, but we wanted to," Tadashi answers firmly.

"Yeah?" Hiro flashes him a tentative smile.

"Definitely!" Tadashi agrees.

"In that case… Thank you. Again. And I guess I should say 'thank you' to Fred as well…"

"You'll have plenty of time to do that at breakfast," Tadashi reassures him.

"Breakfast?" Hiro says hopefully, his stomach growling quietly at the mention of food.

"Hungry?" Tadashi asks, playfully poking his younger sibling's belly.

"Yes!" Hiro laughs, batting his hands away. "I haven't eaten since dinner last night!"

"Well then, let's go get you some food!" Tadashi says, scooping the younger boy up into his arms and standing up.

"Dashi…" Hiro groans, although he automatically wraps his legs around Tadashi's waist and seems to be fighting a smile.

"You get royal treatment today!" Tadashi declares.

"I'm old enough to walk on my own!"

"I know, but doing this helps me feel less guilty for not being there to protect you when you needed me…" Tadashi says quietly.

"Nii-chan…" Hiro lets out a quiet sigh. "It's not your fault, okay? You didn't make those jerks do what they did. They're just total assholes!"

Tadashi was feeling too guilty to correct Hiro's language, instead just holding him closer. "You sure you're not mad at me?" he asks softly. "Because it's okay if you are…"

"Trust me, I'm definitely not!" Hiro answers firmly. "How could I be? You're the best brother in the whole world, and I don't want you thinking any less of yourself because some jerks decided to be-well, jerks. I'm really happy that you found someone you can be in love with, and if people have issues with it because he's another guy, screw them!"

"Screw them, huh?" Tadashi says with a quiet chuckle. "When did you start using all this language?"

"I'm a teenager, Tadashi, you've got to let me grow up sometime!"

"And growing up involves cursing?"

"Well, you do it!"

"I guess I'm not a very good role model, huh?"

"Are you kidding me? You're an awesome role model, cursing and all!"

"I'm not sure if I should be more concerned than I am, but I guess I should just let it go…"

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome?" Tadashi chuckles, hugging the younger boy to his chest. "Now, how about we go get some breakfast?"

"Yes!" Hiro cheers happily before adding playfully, "Onward, my valiant steed!"

"So I'm a horse now?" Tadashi laughs as he opens the door.

"You're the one insisting on giving me a ride!"

"True enough! Just don't expect me to go making horse noises!"

"But that's half the fun!"

Before Tadashi could argue, he sees Fred heading their way and manages to wave to him despite the fact that he was using both arms to hold Hiro.

"Hey guys!" Fred greets them with a grin, obviously trying not to smile too much at the adorable scene in front of him.

"Hey Fred!" Tadashi answers, leaning over to peck him on the cheek and causing Hiro to make fake retching noises.

"Well, good morning to you too!" Fred answers playfully.

"'Morning…" Hiro answers, suddenly going shy as he buries his face into his brother's chest.

"Hiro, what did you have to say to Fred about your room?" Tadashi gently presses, trying to keep the conversation going and maybe get Hiro to feel more comfortable around his boyfriend-they were two of the most important people in his life, and he wanted them to get along.

"Um… Thank you for my room," Hiro answers quietly, giving Fred a small smile, still seeming slightly nervous around him despite the fact that they'd been sharing a house all summer.

"You're more than welcome, little dude!" Fred reassures him. "I want you to feel at home here for as long as you're here!"

"Thank you." Hiro's voice was a little stronger now, and he flashes Fred a genuine smile.

"So, we were thinking about going to see about some breakfast," Tadashi says, glad that his brother was starting to warm up to the other man.

"I was just planning to do that myself!" Fred says with a grin. "Actually, I was thinking about getting trays for you guys in case you wanted to just eat in peace in your room, but since you're up, we can all go eat together!"

"Sounds good!" Tadashi tells him..

"Yeah," Hiro agrees with a slight smile, his attitude seeming to be lifting at the mention of food.

"Let's go, then!" Fred waves for them to follow him.

A few minutes later they arrive in the kitchen to find Marie, as usual, bustling about working on something that smelled amazing.

"Well, I wondered when you'd be up!" she says, turning to face them and smiling as they walk in. "Of course I knew you had a late night and I thought you'd probably sleep in, so I kept everything warm for you!"

"Thanks Marie!" Fred tells her with a grateful grin.

"Of course! And you must be Hiro, dear!" Marie turns to smile at the teen who was still quietly clinging to Tadashi.

"Hi…" Hiro answers, giving her a shy smile of his own.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you! I know my cooking won't be up to the same par as your aunt's, but I hope you'll like it nonetheless!"

"Trust me, it's the next best thing I've ever had to Aunt Cass' food," Tadashi tells his younger sibling.

"That's good to hear…" Hiro admits.

"Right then-you three sit down and I'll get dishing you out some breakfast!" Marie says, gesturing to the table.

"Thank you!" Tadashi gives her a grateful smile before heading over to the table, gently depositing Hiro into a chair before taking the one next to him.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Fred asks once they're all settled with steaming plates of eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon in front of them (Hiro was happily devouring his own like he hadn't eaten in days-but, then again, he pretty much always ate like that.)

"Well, I guess we could give him a tour of the house," Tadashi answers thoughtfully. "After that… I'm not sure. I'd say we could try for that Shakespeare play again, but I get the feeling that's not something Hiro would be into."

To confirm this, Hiro stuck his tongue out and shook his head vigorously.

"All right then, I'm sure we can find something else fun to do!" Fred says firmly.

Tadashi was about to answer that when suddenly his phone starts ringing.

"Hold on, let me answer this in case it's Aunt Cass," Tadashi says, pulling it out and answering it. "Hello?"

"Tadashi! What the hell? Why did I just get a call from SFIT that you dropped out of being my roommate this year?" a familiar voice cries over the phone, sounding vaguely panicked.

"Oh my gosh, David, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to call you!" Tadashi winces guiltily at the words from his roommate from the previous year. He and David had become really good friends, and even though the other man's ocdness had driven him slightly crazy at times, they worked well together and had both agreed to share a dorm the next year if at all possible. When Tadashi had canceled his housing plan for the year after everything that had happened, he'd been so distracted with all the other upheavals in his life that he'd forgotten that it would affect his now ex-roommate.

"Forgot?! How could you forget to tell me something like that?" David demands, sounding hurt. "Did you really hate sharing a room with me that much?" he asks more quietly.

"David, no, it's not like that! I loved being your roommate! But a lot of things have changed really suddenly and my family needed the money so I had to pull out," Tadashi answers, trying to do whatever he could to prevent from hurting the guy's feelings further.

"Wait, Tadashi, you are coming back to SFIT this fall, right?" David asks, sounding worried now.

"Yes, I am!" Tadashi reassures him. "But my living situation has changed-I'm kind of staying with my boyfriend until my family can finish moving out here."

"...Hold on, you have a _boyfriend_? Since when are you gay?!" David cries in disbelief.

"I didn't really figure it out until earlier this summer when I Fred and we started secretly dating," Tadashi admits with a quiet sigh. "But then the pastor and some other people found out and, well… we kind of got kicked out of my home town. Thanks to some stupid old sodomy law, they were going to throw us in jail if we didn't leave."

"...Holy shit… Oh my gosh, are you okay?!"

"Yes, I'm fine! Like I said, I'm staying with Fred now-he actually lives in SF, he was working at our farm 'cause his dad was a friend of my dad back in the day, they went to SFIT together and, well… It's honestly a long story. But to keep it short, yes, I'm fine and Fred is fine, and my aunt is moving out here so we can all get away from that."

"Dude, that is… That is completely fucked up. And wow, yeah, I can imagine why your family would need the money right now… Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, I think we're pretty good right now, but thank you for offering, I really appreciate it. It's nice to know that you're so supportive."

"Of course! You're one of my best friends, there's no way I would ever judge you, whether you like guys or girls! ...I'd still really like to see you if you're back in the area, though. Call it mother henning, but I don't think I'll fully believe that you're okay until I see you with my own eyes. Maybe we could meet up for dinner?"

"Well… Let me check with Fred and Hiro and see what they think, but yeah, that would be pretty awesome, actually."

"Hiro…? Wait, isn't that your little brother? What is he doing in SF?"

"Like I said, it's all a very long story-I promise I'll explain it all eventually."

"Hey, you only have to tell me as much as you want whenever you feel comfortable talking about it-I can't even imagine how hard that all must have been so you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," David say more gently.

"Thank you." Tadashi can't help but smile at that. "Just give me a sec to talk to the others, okay?"

"Sure, take as long as you need!"

Tadashi moves the phone away from his ear, covering the speaker with his hands so he could talk to the others, who were by now watching his with curiosity, with more privacy.

"My old roommate was calling to find out why I'd dropped out of the housing plan for this year," he explains to the other two. "And now he's asking if we'd like to get together for dinner tonight. That okay with you guys?"

"I'm okay with it if Hiro is!" Fred agrees. "I'd like to meet one of your college friends, especially if he's one of the nerdy ones!"

"He definitely is," Tadashi chuckles before turning to his brother. "Hiro, how about you? Would you be okay with that? And it's perfectly okay if you say 'no'!"

"I… I think I'd be okay," Hiro answers slowly.

"You sure? Because if you're not, we don't have to-"

"Dashi, I'm not a child! If you want to meet up with one of your friends, it's fine, I'm not going to be emotionally scarred from meeting one of them! Unless they turn out to be really creepy or something, in which case I'm going to be worried about what the heck you've been doing while you've been gone!"

"Don't worry, he's got his… quirks, but he's in no way creepy!" Tadashi reassures him before finally putting the phone back to his ear. "Okay, David? We're in! Where do you want to meet?"

"Maybe that Japanese restaurant by Ito Ishioka that we all like?" David suggests.

"Sounds perfect! So, we'll meet you there around-five-ish?"

"Works for me!"

"All right then, see you there!"

"See you!" David agrees before hanging up the phone.

"So-I'm getting to meet your old roommate. Awesome!" Fred says with a grin as Tadashi puts his own phone away.

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees with a slight smile. "It should be fun!"

"Should be?"

"Well… If you can get past the fact that he's majorly OCD, he's a really awesome guy to hang out with."

"I think I can handle it!" Fred agrees, brushing aside his concerns before adding playfully, "So… You guys shared a room for a full school year? Should I be planning on asking him for embarrassing stories about you?"

"Oh my gosh, YES, we have to do this!" Hiro cries.

"What? No! That's not fair, you guys!" Tadashi protests. "You can't gang up on me like that!"

"I think we just did, bro!" Hiro answers playfully.

"But… You… All right, fine! Maybe I'll just 'happen' to start spilling some embarrassing stuff about you!"

"You can try your best, but I have no shame, bro!"

"Yes, I can see that," Tadashi sighs, shaking his head.

"C'mon Dashi, it won't be that bad!" Fred says, playfully rubbing his shoulder.

"I'm not so sure…" Tadashi mumbles.

Five pm sharp, the trio made their way into the restaurant that had been designated as the meeting spot. They'd spent the day getting Hiro settled into the house, and had almost ended up being late when Hiro found out about Fred's giant collection of video games and insisted on starting a tournament. Still, Tadashi had managed to tear the two away in time to make it to the restaurant by the time they were supposed to be there, and that was the important thing.

The only one who knew what David actually looked like, Tadashi was automatically elected to scouting duty, looking around the restaurant to try to find the man that they were meeting. What none of them expected was for a tall blonde woman to suddenly come racing across the restaurant towards them and almost tackle Tadashi with a full-on bear hug.

"Oh my gosh, Tadashi!" she cries. "We heard what happened from David! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why didn't you tell us what was going on, we could have helped!"

"Can't… breathe!" Tadashi finally manages to squeak out.

" _Lo siento_!" the girl apologizes, quickly letting go of the other man, or at least greatly loosening her hold. "Sorry, when David called us, we were just so worried…"

"'Us'?" Tadashi asks before letting out a quiet sigh. "Just how many people did he call?"

"Just me and Ethel," the woman reassures him. "He thought your closest friends should know you were back in town, and when I heard he was meeting with you tonight, I thought it might be a good idea for us to come along tonight to offer extra moral support!"

"Well, I really appreciate that," Tadashi says with a warm smile, deciding to just go with it.

"C'mon, everyone's over this way!" the woman tells him, starting to eagerly pull on his hand.

"Hold on, we can't leave these two behind!" Tadashi reminds her.

"Oh, right!" Instantly the girl's eyes fly to Tadashi's companions, both of whom had been quietly watching the spectacle, the two parties seeming to now be silently sizing each other up.

"Aiko, this is my boyfriend, Fred, and my little brother, Hiro," Tadashi introduces them. "Fred, Hiro, this is my friend from the lab, Aiko!"

" _Por Dios_! So this is your boyfriend!" Aiko cries, eagerly hurrying over to Fred and, as was her custom, kissing him on both cheeks. "Eee, Tadashi sure picked _un guapo_ _novio_! I always thought he might gay, but I didn't want anything to say anything until he did, but now I know and I have to say that he definitely has good taste!"

"Oh, um, thank you?" Fred says a bit uncertainly-even as enthusiastic as he usually was, he was a bit overwhelmed by the way the woman seemed to almost visibly exude sunshine and rainbows.

"And you must be Hiro!" Aiko finally lets him go and turns to the younger boy. "Tadashi's told me so much about you!"

"No kissing!" Hiro says defensively, putting his arms up in front of himself to ward off any possible attempts at platonic PDA.

"Sorry, he's a bit shy!" Tadashi tells Aiko, not wanting her to feel offended even though he himself found the kissing a bit much at times.

" _N_ _o_ _te preocupes_!" Honey Lemon reassures him. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you! I'm just super excited to meet both of you!"

"Likewise," Fred agrees with a warm smile.

"C'mon, I know the others are really excited to see you guys too!" Honey Lemon says eagerly, gesturing for the little group to follow her.

"Well, she seems fun," Fred says quietly to Tadashi as they cross the restaurant.

"She is," Tadashi answers with a smile. "She's kind of like the sister I never had-she's the one I told you about who helped me find a wardrobe out here."

"Remind me to thank her!" Fred says playfully.

Tadashi rolls his eyes but can't help but grin at that.

Soon everyone was settled at the table after being introduced to David and the final member of the little party for the evening, Ethel, who turned out to be Aiko's girlfriend and, according to Tadashi, something of a speed demon. Hiro seemed intrigued by this, and soon she was regaling the group with tales of some of her most daring stunts, and Tadashi could only hope that his younger brother wouldn't try to repeat any of them (he'd have to keep a close eye on those two whenever they were together.)

As the evening progressed, any initial awkwardness seemed to fade away and Tadashi couldn't help but feel gratified that everyone was getting along so well. Well, almost everyone. Although they were being overall polite to each other, he could tell that David and Fred were rubbing each other the wrong way. It wasn't any one particular thing, but between David's need to be a bit of a control freak about everything and Fred's much more care free attitude, it was like two fronts meeting each other, and while there wasn't an outright storm there were definitely sparks flying. It finally culminated when David ended up spilling wasabi on his shirt and was freaking out over the stain. Admittedly, it wasn't very noticeable, but he still was acting like it was a major deal, and that seemed to be the last straw for Fred.

"Yeesh, you'd better be glad you're not in different company or else you might end up getting labeled the weird guy who freaked out over wasabi," Fred groans before a slightly mischievous smile crosses his face. "Y'know, that could actually be a fun nickname for you-Wasabi!"

"Fred…" Tadashi quietly scolds him, but it was too late-the idea had already taken hold.

"He sure loves the stuff enough, it would be a fitting nickname," Ethel says with a slight smile of her own. "Not a bad idea, Fred."

"What? No!" David cries, eyes going wide with horror.

"I think it's cute!" Aiko giggles.

"I'm still learning all of your names, but not gonna lie, that is definitely going to stick with me!" Hiro laughs.

"I'd say it's official, then-from now on, David is Wasabi!" Ethel says, flashing Fred a grin, and Tadashi couldn't help but think that she probably was as glad to see the other man being taken down a peg since his ocdness had been a constant factor of frustration for her too.

"This cannot be happening," David/Wasabi groans, putting his head in his hands.

"Ooh, if Fred, if you're giving out nicknames, do me next!" Aiko cries eagerly.

"Oh, um… Okay, sure!" Fred agrees, looking surprised but pleased by the request. "Let's see… If we're going off of foods… What exactly is that that you're drinking?" he asks, gesturing to the yellow drink in her cup

"Oh, honey lemon boba tea!" Aiko answers.

"She's obsessed with the stuff," Ethel adds, fondly rolling her eyes.

"Well, it's yellow and it seems that you really like the color yellow," Fred observes, noting Aiko's rather brightly colored ensemble. "Plus, honey kind of denotes something that's sweet, and you seem to have a very sweet personality, so I think Honey Lemon would be the perfect nickname for you!"

"Ooh, I like it!" Aiko agrees with a grin. "Honey Lemon it is!"

"Now for Ethel…" Fred says, looking over at the other woman.

"If you think you're naming me after some sort of food, you're dead wrong," she answers, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, actually I have another nickname in mind for you-GoGo!"

"Huh…" Ethel seems to be considering it. "I actually kind of like it."

"It's perfect!" Honey Lemon agrees eagerly.

"It's certainly fitting," Tadashi says with a smile.

"GoGo it is, then!" Fred declares.

"Wait, are you going to come up with nicknames for me and Tadashi?" Hiro asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Um… If I think of something good, maybe," Fred answers after a moment's thought. "I mean, Tadashi already has 'Dashi', and your name already kind of sounds like a nickname-like, people might think it's 'h-e-r-o', not 'H-i-r-o', meaning you're some sort of superhero or something!"

"Those aren't really great reasons, y'know," Hiro drawls.

"All right, fine-honest answer? Usually I nickname people I've just met, but I kind of just got used to calling your guys by your regular names so I'd rather not try to change that around," Fred admits.

"Not fair…" Wasabi quietly mutters.

"And who ever said that life was fair?" Fred tosses back playfully.

Despite, or maybe because of the whole nickname debacle, the evening continued on in a similarly light hearted tone, with lots of laughing and joking and stories being told. Eventually when it started getting late, they all agreed that it was time to call it a night, but they made plans to get together again soon, the others seeming excited to start introducing the two brothers to the fun and famous spots around San Fransokyo now that they were going to be living in the city.

On the drive home, Tadashi got a call from Aunt Cass, and over speaker phone she filled them in on the latest progress-apparently the movers had been hard at work, and between their efforts and that of a few supportive neighbors (in addition to the Svensons), the packing was almost done. She hoped to be finished by the next day and, the movers being willing, to be on her way out to join her family by the day after.

"Guess we'll need to be getting another guest bedroom ready," Fred observes with a smile as Tadashi hangs up the phone.

"Do you really think that it'll be okay for her to stay there while your dad's people are getting the house and restaurant ready?" Tadashi asks, still seeming a bit uncertain of the arrangements, as if finding it all still a little too good to be true.

"Trust me, it'll be fine," Fred reassures him, gently squeezing his arm. "I guess the only change is that we might not be able to keep sharing a bed when she gets here," he adds more quietly, so that Hiro wouldn't be as likely to hear him.

"That's true…" Tadashi agrees, frowning slightly. Fred could tell that he definitely was thinking hard about that, but it wasn't exactly something they could discuss in front of Hiro so the subject had to lie silent until they could speak privately and, to prevent any awkward silences they quickly move on to other, safer conversation topics. By the time they got back to the mansion, Fred had practically forgotten about it and it only lingered in the corners of his mind until after Marie had welcomed them home with fresh cookies and cocoa when Tadashi announced that he thought it was time for bed. Hiro, although he was stalwartly trying to stay awake, was still on Texas time so he didn't seem put up too much of a fight, allowing Tadashi to lead him back to his room. Fred found himself freezing slightly out in the hall as he tried to figure out what exactly to do-was Tadashi going to spend the night with Hiro, or was he planning to spend the night in Fred's room again, and how was he supposed to ask him about either?

As it turned out, he didn't have to ask-after seeing Hiro safely into his room, Tadashi returned to the hallway and started gently tugging on his the fanboy's hand, leading him back towards his room.

"Are you sure this is going to be okay?" Fred asks quietly. "Hiro won't mind?"

"He pretty much fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow-I think if we set the alarm early again, we should be okay," Tadashi answers with a smile that somehow seemed to turn slightly seductive as he pulled a little harder on Fred's arm. "C'mon-since we don't know how many more we have like this, let's make tonight about us, 'kay?"

"O-okay…" Fred agrees, finding himself letting Tadashi pull him along, his heart rate speeding up. Wait, was he completely misreading this, or was Tadashi actually-?

As soon as they were inside his room with the doors closed, Fred had his answer. Almost immediately Tadashi had him pressed up against the wall, kissing him like he had never kissed him before, hands sliding up beneath Fred's shirt and freely roaming over the fanboy's skin. Fred found himself shivering and moaning at the contact, loving every second of this, wanting more of it but not knowing just how far Tadashi actually wanted to go and wanting to be careful not to go too far until he knew (although his boyfriend was making it hard to concentrate with the way he was starting to nip at his neck.) It wasn't until he could feel his erection starting and Tadashi beginning to fumble with the button on his shorts that he knew this was actually happening. Still, he wanted to leave no doubt later that he hadn't misread the signs and somehow ended up hurting Tadashi,, so he forces himself to pull away momentarily, gasping, "D-Dashi… A-are you sure…?"

"I'm sure," Tadashi agrees, pure love shining in his deep brown eyes as he meets Fred's. "If you want me… I'm yours. All of me."

Within moments, Fred was passionately kissing Tadashi, eagerly yanking off both their shirts,, craving the feeling of skin against skin, before starting to maneuver his boyfriend across the room and over to the bed, Tadashi gladly submitting to whatever he wanted.

"You're sure?" Fred asks one last time as Tadashi lies down on the bed.

"I'm sure," Tadashi agrees before gently pulling him down on top of him to start the most amazing night of their lives.

About an hour later, Fred found himself lying in bed with Tadashi gently nuzzled up against him, the sweat still drying on both their bodies and their hearts still trying to return to normal rates as they cuddled beneath the sheets.

"That was… amazing," Fred finally manages to breathe as he gently strokes his boyfriend's hair.

"Mm," Tadashi agrees, his head resting comfortably in the crook where the fanboy's jaw met his neck-apparently their first time had taken a lot out of him, but he was smiling in a completely contented way that made Fred sure that he had enjoyed it as much as he head.

"I love you," Fred whispers gently into his ear, continuing to stroke his hair. "So much."

"I love you too," Tadashi answers, pecking his cheek before going back to contentedly cuddling him.

"You know that you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, right?" Fred adds softly.

"I know," Tadashi agrees. "And you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with too."

"Yeah?" Fred asks hopefully.

" I wouldn't let myself get kicked out of my home town or give myself to someone I didn't," Tadashi answers, smiling up at him.

"You've just made me the happiest man in the world, you know that?" Fred breathes.

"Nope, only the second happiest-there's no way that you're any happier than I am," Tadashi replies playfully.

"How about we go with us being equally as happy?" Fred suggests.

"'Kay, sounds good," Tadashi agrees with a quiet yawn, obviously too tired to argue over something that would be hard to prove either way.

"How about you get some sleep, okay?" Fred says softly.

"I'm not sleepy!" Tadashi protests, even though his eyelids were already starting to flutter.

"Sure you're not," Fred playfully coos, enjoying how adorable his boyfriend looked when he was like this and knowing this was the person he wanted to fall asleep and wake up next to for the rest of his life.

"I don't want to fall asleep after something this amazing…" Tadashi quietly whines, burying his face into the fanboy's chest.

"How about this-I promise that I'll be right here when you wake up, okay?" Fred answers, gently pressing a kiss to the other man's temple.

"...Okay," Tadashi finally agrees, letting out one last yawn before allowing his eyes to slide shut, his breathing evening out until it was clear that he'd finally fallen asleep.

Fred knew that he wasn't far behind him-he could feel both the late hour and the great expenditure of energy from the last hour catching up with him. Still, he lay awake for a little while longer, thinking about how his life had changed so much in such a short period of time. When he'd gone to work on the farm at the beginning of summer, he never imagined meeting anyone as amazing as Tadashi, let alone falling completely and totally in love with them. But he had, and even though he knew that his life would never be the same, he wouldn't have traded one second of this for anything in the world.

0o0

Wow guys! I can't believe we're actually here-the end! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Don't worry, I'm not abandoning you guys, I have a HUGE stockpile of fics still to post for all of you! The only question is which one first! XD I'm planning to either post the sequel(s) to the mer AU next. Also, there will be one more bonus chapter for this fic that's sort of a prequel/sequel-ish thing that I hope you enjoy Thanks again for being so supportive!


	9. Bonus

Hey everyone! So, originally I was going to post the prequel/sequel-ish one shot I wrote for this AU as a separate fic, but then I decided that it would probably work better as a bonus chapter tacked onto the end of this since you kind of have to read this fic for Tadashi's reactions to everything leading up to meeting Fred to make any sense. It's pretty close to my own life story, so please be kind if you choose to react to it at all. I think I established pretty early on that Tadashi grew up in an extremely homophobic hometown, so if his reactions to his first exposure to a more liberal university seem a bit harsh, remember that he's dealing with culture shock and this is a part of his learning process in coming to accept himself and others. Thank you. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with us!

0o0

As was the custom at colleges, Tadashi moved into his dorm at SFIT a week before the actual semester started. He was sad not to have his family there to help him move in, but they couldn't afford to all fly out with him and so he was just going to have to do his best to on his own. He hadn't brought much with him-they weren't sure his old truck would stand the strain of driving back and forth from Texas to California multiple times, so whatever he'd needed to bring with him had to be fitted into his carry on bag and the old suitcase of his deceased parents' that they'd dug out of the attic. According to Aunt Cass, it was the same suitcase his dad had used when he'd started going to SFIT, so Tadashi couldn't help but feel somewhat proud to be using it as he was carrying on the work his father had left behind.

By the time that Tadashi actually arrived at the campus and got checked into his dorm on move-in day, he found that his roommate was already there and had begun unpacking. David, as he'd learned the man's name was from the bit of online chatting they'd done after they'd received their room assignments, was apparently a very neat person, something Tadashi could gladly live with. Not that he minded messes-growing up with a little brother on a farm in Texas meant getting a little (or a lot) dirty, and he found that a certain amount of controlled chaos was good for the soul. Still, when it came to roommates, he'd definitely prefer someone who actually knew how to take care of their things and wouldn't leave messes in the microwave on a regular basis. If anything, Tadashi got the feeling that he was the one who was going to be struggling to keep up to David's standards of cleanliness. Still, they seemed to get along pretty well during the unpacking stage, keeping up polite conversation, and once they were both fairly done Tadashi was more than happy to accept his roommate's offer to go grab some pizza for lunch together.

On their way back from the campus' tiny pizzeria (David promised that he knew better places that they could order from once they had settled in more since he'd grown up just outside the city), they passed through a large section of campus that was full of brightly colored booths and more people than Tadashi had ever seen all in one place before.

"What's going on?" he asks curiously, glancing over at his roommate in hopes of an explanation.

"Activities fair," David answers, shivering slightly and trying to avoid touching more people than was absolutely necessary. "Clubs and organizations from around campus set up booths and try to convince people to join."

"That actually sounds kind of fun!" Tadashi admits, glancing around at the smiling people manning the booths-it wouldn't hurt to try to make some new friends here, even if his main focus was going to be on studying.

"Not for me-I prefer to do my socializing not surrounded by hundreds of people who have been only heaven knows where," David mutters, shying away from a particularly boisterous group of guys surrounding a booth for what looked like a fraternity of some sort.

"Do you mind if I hang back and take a look around?" Tadashi asks him.

"Hey man, this is your college experience, as long as you don't show up in our dorm wasted and throwing up all over the place or do anything illegal, I'm cool with whatever you want to do," David reassures him.

"Thanks!" Tadashi grins and waves to him before taking the plunge into the crowds to see what sorts of organizations he might want to join.

He happily spent the next hour going from booth to booth-there were so many people here, and it was refreshing that there were so many his own age (in his small town, there were only a handful of teens even close to his and Hiro's age.) He had to admit, some of the people he met were… startling, to say the least. He'd been raised up to be polite and soft spoken, but here some students seemed to have the single goal of drawing as much attention to themselves as possible. He could respect that-his aunt had taught him to do his best to be kind to people from all walks of life, so even if someone was different from what he was used to he was going to do his best to be as open minded as possible. Still, his limits were about to be tested in a way he'd never imagined and in a way that, unbeknownst to him, was going to alter the course of his fate.

As he was leaving a booth for an international cooking club, he was bumped into by a guy who was, if it was possible, even taller than he was, and he found himself being knocked off the path, accidentally jostling the table of the next organization.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" he apologizes as soon as he's got his balance back. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's okay!" a melodious voice with just a hint of an accent answers, and he finds himself being helped upright by a tall girl dressed all the way from her headband to her platform heels in a very bright shade of yellow.

"Jerk should have looked where he was going," a gruffer voice adds, and as Tadashi's vision refocuses he takes notice of a much shorter woman with purple streaked hair who was apparently also manning the booth.

"I hope I didn't damage your display," Tadashi says apologetically.

" No te preocupes! Don't worry about it!" the tall blonde reassures him. "Nothing was hurt, and even if it was, it wouldn't be your fault!"

"I feel like it would be, but I'm glad that everything's okay," Tadashi answers with a relieved smile before glancing up at the brightly colored posters they had lining the booth, most of them filled with rainbows and the letters "GSA" proudly emblazoned across them. It showed just how sheltered a life he had lived that he had to ask what that stood for.

"We're representing the Gay-Straight Alliance!" the blonde cheerfully chirps.

"She's representing-as her girlfriend I got dragged along to man the booth with her," the shorter woman quietly grumbles.

Either not hearing her or just pretending not to, the blond continues brightly, "We're not just here for gay students, we're here for all members of the lgbtqa community! Any interest in signing up? We welcome allies as well as community members!"

"Although I'm pretty sure he's not just an ally," the shorter woman quietly quips.

"O-Oh! I-I"m not- That is to say…." Tadashi finds his cheeks turning bright red, for once in his life unsure of what to say. As much as everything in his upbringing had taught him to be nice to everyone, he'd heard on more than one occasion exactly what the town's pastor had to say about this thing that was usually referred to in his church (if anyone even dared to bring it up at all) as "sodomy". He'd never actually met anyone who was engaged in a homosexual relationship, but the image that had been painted for him had been nothing short of terrifying. Now, though, here he was face to face with two girls who were apparently in a same sex relationship, and they looked so… Normal. If anything, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but feel the actually looked like a pretty cute couple-but no! He wasn't allowed to think like that! As nice and everything as they seemed, what they were doing was not okay-was it? Honestly feeling a bit confused by all these thoughts swirling in his head, he mumbles, "I-I'm sorry, but I really have to go…"

"Oh, of course! Sorry, didn't mean to keep you!" the blond woman answers with a warm smile. "Here." She scribbles something on a flyer which turns out to be a phone number and then presses it into his hands. "If you ever want to come to one of our meetings or even just hang out, feel free to text me anytime, okay?"

"O-Okay, thanks," Tadashi agrees, quickly shoving the flyer into his pocket before heading out into the activities fair, trying to get some distance so he could clear his head. While he was still within hearing distance, though, he heard the short woman saying,

"Either he's just a major homophobe or totally in denia, and I'm betting on the latter."

"Ethel, we don't know that!" the blonde responds, although she didn't sound fully convinced.

"Trust me, there's no way a guy like that isn't hella gay."

Tadashi ducks his head down and hurries to keep making distance between himself and the booth. No. No way. Those girls had no idea what they were talking about! He wasn't- He couldn't be-! Sure, he'd never had a girlfriend to date, but he was just saving himself for the right girl-right? And okay, he'd had a few passing thoughts about guys at his high school who had been admittedly good looking, but he'd never, ever act on them! He was honestly ashamed that they'd even been there in the first place-what kind of Christian was he if he was thinking those sorts of things about another man? The best thing he could do was stay away from influences like those girls that got him thinking about things like this! He wasn't gay, and that was that!

A few months into the school year, though, Tadashi hadn't exactly succeeded in his goal of staying away from what his pastor would have considered "Satanic influences". It had turned out that the blond girl (Aiko) and the short girl (Ethel) were both in the same lab as him, as well as in the same classes. He hadn't known how not to be rude by flat out telling them that he wasn't okay with the fact that they were dating, or even just turning down Aiko's constant invites to hang out or study after class, and before he knew it they were actually his closest friends on campus outside of David. What his aunt would say if she knew that he was spending most of his free time with a lesbian couple, he didn't know. But, as much as he'd tried to resist it, before long he couldn't help but come to terms with the fact that these girls seemed anything but "satanic". In fact, Aiko, as a Sophomore, had invited him to come to her church with her on Sunday evenings when she found out that he was still trying to find one. It was definitely different than any church he had ever been to. For one thing, the pastor was a woman-that was certain something he'd never expected. For another, they didn't meet in a regular church building, but in a small theater that was apparently loaned to them for their services. For a third thing, the services were much more informal-people were invited to stand up and walk around or even leave whenever they felt the need, the "choir" consisted of one man who played the guitar and a harmonica who sometimes even used songs that were usually considered "secular" instead of typical worship hymns, and communion was actually served by the members of the congregation to each other. Probably the biggest change for him, though, was that the church was openly not only accepting of but supportive of gay people. At first Tadashi had no idea how he was supposed to make that mesh with what he'd learned in his own church growing up and he might have stopped going after the first few times, but somehow he found that he couldn't stop going. He felt… Safe, somehow, coming here. The people were all so nice, and the way that the pastor talked about God, as someone who openly cared and loved about His children instead of as a figure to be feared and obeyed without question, was something he'd never experienced before. He sometimes struggled to be able to accept that what the pastor said about how believing in God was supposed to be a healing, loving relationship instead of a long list of rules to follow was true. But he wanted to believe it. He wanted to so badly. And he couldn't help but wonder how these people, who all seemed to have so much honest joy, could be wrong about what they were saying when all he'd felt in his old church was so much fear of even stepping the tiniest bit out of line and risking damnation.

"Hey." Tadashi was jerked out of his thoughts as he feels someone shaking his shoulder. With a start he realizes that the service was already over and that it was Aiko looking down at him with slight concern.

"S-Sorry, what's going on?" he asks, trying to act like he wasn't having an existential crises.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go out with everyone for dinner tonight or if you needed to head back and study," Aiko answers, obviously repeating something she'd already asked him.

"O-Oh, I…. I don't really have that much homework tonight, so if you want to go I'm okay with that," Tadashi answers, knowing how much the woman enjoyed going out with the rest of their small congregation to have dinner and just hang out together after the service (and, as much as he sometimes felt a bit surprised by some of the rather un-churchlike conversations that happened at the tables, he had to admit that he did too.)

To his surprise, though, instead of smiling and leading him towards the door, Aiko sits down next to him and takes one of his hands in her own. "Dashi, what's wrong?" she asks softly, her big green eyes full of concern.

"I just… I don't get it," Tadashi finally manages to get out quietly. "All my life, I've been told I'm supposed to live my life in a certain way and follow all these rules and somehow it's supposed to make you happy or give you peace or whatever. But until recently… I've never actually felt that. But then I come here, and suddenly I'm surrounded by all these people who are living lives that my pastor at home would say would get them sent to hell, but… They're the closest thing I've ever seen to the kind of loving people that I've always been told Christians were supposed to be outside of maybe my aunt…"

"Oh, Dashi…." Aiko wraps her arms tightly around him. "I'm really sorry you had to grow up with that… But life isn't supposed to be about following rules! It's supposed to be about loving other people-and not because you have to, but because you feel so loved by God and the people around you that you can't help but have that love overflow."

"No one's ever said it to me like that before," Tadashi admits quietly.

"Well, now you've heard it, so believe it!" Aiko answers playfully.

"Thank you," Tadashi says softly before adding, "And… I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"I know I haven't been… Exactly supportive of you and Ethel being girlfriends… And that's still something I'm trying to work on 'cause it's not easy to change the way you think about something when you've been taught it your whole life, but… I'm going to try my best to work on that, okay?"

Aiko beams like she's just received the best present in the entire world as she wraps him in a tight hug. "You have no idea how much that means to me," she tells him.

"Just returning the favor," Tadashi answers as he hugs her back, feeling something-and he wasn't sure what-growing lighter inside of him.

Tadashi stares at the blank search engine screen in front of him. It was the end of the Spring semester. All of his projects were in and final completed, which meant he actually had a few hours to himself to relax tonight before heading home the next day. And instead of being out celebrating like the rest of campus, he was spending them in front of his computer, debating doing something he never would have dared to before coming to SFIT but was now greatly tempted to do, even though the idea still filled him with slight horror and shame as he imagined what his family would think if they knew what he was doing. Finally, with almost shaking fingers he starts to type what he was looking for into the search bar and-

"Tadashi!" He instantly jerks away from his computer as the door to his office suddenly flies open and Aiko comes skipping in. "Ethel and I were just heading out for some sushi and we wanted to know if you wanted to come as a kind of 'goodbye' dinner-" She stops when her eyes land on the computer monitor, her green irises seeming to widen as she gasps, "Wait, Tadashi, are you-?"

"It's not what it looks like!" Tadashi cries, knowing it was too late to close out of the browser and also knowing that it was exactly what it looked like.

Aiko suddenly grins and crosses the office to him. "OH MY GOSH, DASHI!" she cries. "You're looking at yaoi! Oh my gosh, is this Klance? That is so cute! Why didn't you tell me you were into this?"

Tadashi looks down at his lap, feeling slightly ashamed but also just a tiny bit rebelliously proud. "I-I'm not… I mean… I wasn't? I don't know," he finally admits with a sigh.

"Dashi, this isn't anything to be ashamed of!" Aiko puts her hands gently on his shoulders. "I mean, it's not like you're looking at smut or anything-and I wouldn't judge if you were! Klance is a very established couple, and there's nothing wrong with you enjoying all the cute fandom stuff!"

"I know…" Tadashi mumbles, still not quite meeting her eyes.

"Tadashi, what's wrong?" Aiko gently nudges him before adding in a playful but still concerned tone, "C'mon, you know you can't hide anything from Tia Aiko !"

"I just… I've had a lot on my mind," Tadashi admits quietly.

"Like what?" Aiko plops down onto the floor in front of him.

"I… Do you remember what Ethel said on the day you first met me? When I was walking away from the GSA booth?" Tadashi mumbles, fidgeting with the hem of his blazer (he still had her to thank for helping him update his wardrobe on the tiny clothes budget that he had so he could fit in here more at SFIT.)

"Oh, you heard that?" Aiko blushes. "I'm sorry, she didn't mean anything by it- Well, yes she did, but you know that she didn't mean any harm by it!"

"No, it's okay," Tadashi reassures her, sighing before adding quietly, "I actually think that she may have been right…"

"Dashi, admittedly you were kind of-well, really homophobic," Aiko answers carefully. "But you've come so far since then, so if you're feeling guilty about that you really don't need to keep beating yourself up-"

"No, not that, although that is true," Tadashi cuts in before taking a shaky breath and saying nervously, "T-The other part…"

"The other part…?" Aiko's face scrunches up in concentration and then she lets out a tiny gasp. " Dios mio ! Tadashi, are you… Are you trying to tell me that you're-?"

"I-I don't know!" Tadashi runs his hands distractedly through his hair. "Maybe? I've thought about it…"

"Since coming to SFIT?" Aiko gently prompts.

"Mostly," Tadashi sighs. "But… Even before that… I'd see guys that I thought were… y'know, attractive… But I since I always told myself that it was wrong, that I couldn't be attracted to other guys, I never really let myself think about it, y'know?"

"So is there someone you feel attracted to now?" Aiko asks with a slight smile.

"Not anyone in particular-not anyone that I'd actually want to ask out or anything…" Tadashi answers sheepishly. "I just… It's something I'm thinking about and I guess maybe I need some more time to think it over before I really come to a conclusion, y'know?"

"Absolutely!" Aiko gently squeezes his hands. "There's no need for you to rush to figure this out! You take your time and think it over-but if you need anyone to talk to about this, just know I'm here for you, okay?"

"Thank you." Tadashi gives her a grateful smile as she stands up.

"So-Do you want to come to dinner with me and Ethel?" the blond asks with a smile, gesturing to the door.

"Well…" Tadashi finds his gaze drawn back to his computer screen.

"I see." Aiko presses a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. " Entiendo! Have fun!" She leans forward and playfully pecks him on each cheek. "Feliz verano -Have a great summer!"

"You too!" Tadashi smiles and waves to her before pulling the remains of his last takeout pizza of the semester out of the mini fridge under his desk and turning back to his computer. Tonight, he had a date with tumblr.

The next day, he was more than happy to be home, and it feels like Heaven when his Aunt pulls him into the first hug he'd had from her since he'd said goodbye to her at the end of Christmas break. He was even more gratified when he got home and received an extremely enthusiastic hug from his younger brother, gladly cuddling his beloved otouto close. As much as he was ready to get back to work, helping out with his fair share of the chores, his aunt insisted that he was going to rest for the rest of the day so that he'd have energy for the impromptu barbecue she was throwing together that night to celebrate his coming home. The only thing that she was willing to let him do was head out to the hay field and tell the farmhand she'd hired for the summer, Fred, that it was time for lunch since she still needed to finish fixing the food and Hiro had to finish off his own chores before eating. Tadashi didn't mind at all-he was more than happy to be allowed to do something upon his return and this way he'd get a chance to see the farm after being away from it for so long. As he makes his way through the fields, he couldn't help but wonder if his experiences at SFIT would stick with him over the summer-was he a different person here than he was there, or were the changes he'd made more permanent?

When about five minutes later he accidentally spooks the new farmhand and finds himself gazing down at probably the most gorgeous guy he'd ever seen and doesn't feel a single hint of guilt at letting his eyes glance down at the man's bare chest before offering him the discarded shirt he'd found lying on the ground next to the stream, he had his answer.

Yep, he thinks with a slight smile as he introduces himself to Fred, who seemed to be blushing just as much as he was. I am totally and completely gay.

Five years later...

"Good night, Daniel," Tadashi says softly as leans down and gently kisses his son's forehead.

"Good night, Papa," Daniel answers, his big blue eyes fluttering shut and a contented smile on his tiny rosebud lips.

"'Night, little guy-sleep well," Fred adds, wrapping an arm around his husband's waist as they flip off the main lights, the glow of the little boy's Captain America nightlight filling the room with a soft glow that would scare off any imaginary monsters in the closet.

"'Night Daddy," Daniel yawns before finally drifting off to sleep.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Fred asks once they're far enough down the hallway that they won't wake the little boy up.

"Honestly? Just relaxing with you in the living room sounds nice," Tadashi answers with a small yawn of his own.

"Tired?" Fred gives him a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah," Tadashi admits. "Running a company with Hiro and being a parent can take a lot out of you… Not that I'm complaining!"

"Of course not!" Fred agrees, smiling as he pulls him down onto the couch, beginning to gently massage his shoulders.

"Mm…" Tadashi lets out a contented hum. "That feels sooo good…"

"I learned from the best," Fred answers playfully, leaning down to peck the end of his nose.

"How did I get so lucky with you?" Tadashi quietly sighs, unable to keep a smile off his face.

"I guess we were just fortunate enough that God saw us two awesome gay guys and decided that we'd make a great couple!" Fred declares.

"Something like that," Tadashi chuckles. He couldn't believe how far he'd come since his early days at SFIT when he would have been scandalized to hear something like that. It felt like an entire lifetime ago-he could barely even remember who that person had been.

"You're still happy with how everything worked out, right?" Fred asks softly. "I mean, you never regret going after that Meg girl who was always trying to get you to marry her back in your home town?"

"Of course I am!" Tadashi turns around to pull him into a tight hug. "I have the best, most gorgeous husband in the world. I'm running my dream company with my little brother that's helped countless people. And now I'm raising the sweetest little boy I could ever imagine with the man I love more than anything. How could I be anything than completely happy?"

"I don't think you could!" Fred chuckles. "I just like hearing you say that!"

"Fred!" Tadashi playfully swats him. "That's not fair!"

"All's fair in love and war, sweetheart!" Fred returns cheekily.

"And this is love?" Tadashi answers, raising an eyebrow and giving him a playfully skeptical look.

"You know it is!" Fred answers, pulling him into a loving kiss, which Tadashi returns with just as much passion.

And, as he lies in bed next to his husband that night, knowing that their son was peacefully sleeping in the bedroom just down the hall from them, Tadashi couldn't be more grateful that God had sent him to that booth on his first day of college.


End file.
